A TALENTED tennis player has capped off an ace season which saw him selected for Scotland by taking home the top prize at a big regional tournament.

Local man Jim Lyon was given the chance to represent Team Scotland earlier this year at the Home Nations Senior Tournament in Bolton, after putting in impressive performances at an International Tennis Federation event in Glasgow.

Jim, alongside fellow Ardgowan Tennis Club member Matt Smith, also clinched gold at the recent West of Scotland over-50s open doubles, beating top seeds along the way.

The 58-year-old says his recent run of seniors success has been a highlight of his playing career but might never have happened at all.

He told the Tele he was initially apprehensive about taking part in seniors competitions and had not really participated in tournaments previously.

He said: "It was my clubmate Matt who nagged me to do it.

"I think I was in denial about my age!

"I'd never really bothered with tournaments before, but I did well in my first one, which was an over 55s Scottish event in Scotstoun.

"I played and beat a Welsh lad who was the number three seed and is ranked in the top ten in Britain, then I had a good game against the Scottish number one.

"I think that caught the attention of the Scottish selectors, who asked me to play for Scotland in the bi-annual home internationals down in Bolton."

Jim, who has been playing tennis since his teens, says being called up was a huge honour.

He was chosen to play three singles matches in Bolton and came out on top against the Welsh and the Irish contenders.

Jim describes it as a 'fantastic experience'.

He said: "I went down expecting to be the fourth man and thought I would be lucky to get a game.

"I beat the Irish and the Welsh guy, but I lost to the English number one in my first game.

"He is world ranked and it was a real baptism of fire for me.

"I felt a lot of pressure in the game after that, but the captain kept faith in me.

"I don't think I've ever felt as much pressure as I did going into that Wales game but I just did my best and was really pleased with the result.

"To play for my country at my age is something I never would have thought I could do."

Jim hopes that he can continue his good run of form, which also saw him take home a regional title alongside Matt.

He said: "We played the number one seeds in the final and won.

"Doing that against top players felt incredible.

"Now we're looking forward to next year, we're really going to up the profile of the club and make it even better.

"We've been looking at getting a gate access system which would allow people to pay to play and book courts online, which I think would be a big help.

"The club is really pushing to get more young people and women involved in the sport.

"This is a great club and a brilliant place to play, I love representing them and playing here."