TALENTED teenager bowler Darren Weir came just short of glory on the national stage.

He won his way to the final of the Gents Scottish Masters which was staged at the Dewars Centre in Perth on Friday.

The 18-year-old Journalism student from Prestwick took on the vastly experienced Graeme Donaldson from Elgin in what turned out to be a cliffhanger of a match.

The tie was deadlocked at one-set-all before the North of Scotland ace secured the third set on a tie-break.

However Weir enjoyed the experience despite the result and said: "We played on the portable rink which they use on the tour and were in front of the TV cameras. The game was shown live on YouTube with highlights on the BBC but that didn't faze me. I felt I played well but he came up with the right shots at the right time. It was a good achievement to reach the final and this will give me confidence in the weeks ahead."

Weir won his way to the final after winning six games in the weeks running up to it. He saw off Jim Leitch of Auchinleck in the opening round, before overcoming Prestwick clubmate Jamie Houston in the second round and Iain McLean of Blantyre in the third round. Then in the quarter-final he was victorious over Richard Mark from West Lothian.

In the semi-final he enjoyed success against Connor Milne from Turriff.

Weir first came to fame when he represented Team Scotland in the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa in 2015 and the following year he won the Scottish Under-18 Singles title.