Oxford's Malcolm Lewis was 'gutted' after being pipped 5-4 by Scotland's Davie McGawn in the European Blackball Pool Championships senior individual semi-finals at Selsey, near Win- chester.

Lewis, England's over 40s captain, came through four rounds before he tackled McGawn in a late-night thriller which went on into the early hours of the morning.

With the pair locked together at 4-4 in front of a crowd of around 200 at Bunn Leisure, West Sands Holiday Park, the Osney Mead wizard had a chance to claim victory.

But he failed to take it and McGawn stepped in to reach the final where he defeated Northern Ireland's Robert Hawkins 6-4.

However, the missed opportunity left Lewis with recurring nightmares.

"I was gutted losing in the semi 5-4," he said. "I had a chance with a shot, but I think my arm tightened up a bit and the other chap went on to win it.

"He said later I gave him his toughest match of the tournament, but every time I woke up that night I went over this shot in my head.

"When I take a step back and look at it, to get to the semi-finals of the individual seniors was good and puts me in good stead for the future."

Lewis had opened his challenge with a 5-1 win over France's Alain Giorgi in the preliminary round, before beating England teammate Mark Layton by the same score.

He then brushed aside Chris Davies, another England colleague, once again 5-1, before easing past Wales's Mike Lawrence 5-2 in the quarter-finals.

Lewis, who works as a table engineer for Riley's Snooker Ltd, also suffered semi-final heartache in the team competition as his England side were knocked out 13-7 by Wales.

England had qualified for the last four by finishing runners-up in their group after winning three of their four games.

They beat eventual winners France 13-12, Northern Ireland 15-10 and Republic of Ireland 17-8, but lost 13-12 to Wales.

Lewis did have the consolation of leading England to victory in the seniors 'speed pool' championships.

His next big tournament is the World Masters at Bridlington next April when England are the defending champions.