Foster is top of the world after coming from behind to win fifth singles title

Paul Foster won his fifth world indoor singles title yesterday in emphatic fashion against 2010 champion and the local Potters Resort bowls ambassador Greg Harlow 7-10, 11-1, 2-0.

Harlow set his stall out early and a full house on the third end gave him a 5-2 lead. Doubles on alternate ends boosted that to 9-4 after seven and, despite Foster scoring singles on three of the last four ends on the best of two sets of 11 ends, Harlow took the initiative 10-7.

Foster, pictured, had shown signs of consistency in the latter stages of the opening set and that form grew in the second. Playing to a shorter length jack, the Scot scored singles on the first two ends.

Harlow responded in the third with an inch-perfect bowl but that was as good as it got for the Englishman, with Foster completely dominating over the remaining ends to put the result out of sight at 11-1 with two ends in hand and force a best-of-three-end shoot-out, which also went his way 2-0 to take the title.

“On the first of the tie break ends I got a bit boost. I held shot but it was 18 inches away and Greg opted to draw. In the first set he was nailing everything but he sailed through so that was a big bonus for me,” said Foster. “I had a steady start to the tournament. Against Jamie Chestney I wasn’t switched on until halfway through the game and won on a tie break, but I was a lot better against Les Gillett. I just felt I got better every round and didn’t peak too early.

“In the final I felt I played well in the first set but Greg always had the better of me from the first bowl. He was superb but I felt that, as the game progressed, I was able to play all the shots I wanted to and my confidence grew.”

In his semi-final, he beat No 15 seed Les Gillett 11-4, 5-5 and, coincidentally, on his way to the title in 1998 and 2005, the Cambridge man was also his victim.

Foster scored on 16 of the 22 ends of the match and, from trailing 9-4 in the opening set, and despite losing that 10-7, he won 13 of the next 15 ends of the match. He has now won 11 WBT titles – five singles, four pairs and two mixed pairs – to equal the number held by Tony Allcock. Alex Marshall holds the record with 13.