Foster’s fitness drive fuels ambition for more success

THERE are no signs that threetime Commonwealth gold medal winner Paul Foster MBE is going to settle with what he has achieved in bowls so far. The 44-year-old, who also owns a taxi company, has 12 world titles and is the reigning world champion in the Indoor Open Singles — the fifth time he has won the title — but he is as determined as ever to be successful at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast of Australia in April. Foster (left) was one of ten bowls players named in Team Scotland’s squad on Tuesday for the Games and the change in his appearance to a much fitter and leaner-looking man suggests he means business.

‘The last two to three months I’ve just cut all my rubbish; chocolate, crisps and alcohol. I’ve stopped most of it,’ he said.

‘I go out walking three times a week, 15 miles and I’m just trying to get myself fit.

‘The older you get the harder it is to come off and I want to be as fit as I can at my age.

‘When you feel good about yourself, I feel that you play at the top of your game.

‘I’m happy with how things are going just now. I’m looking to lose a bit more weight before April.

‘But it’s difficult because sometimes my wife brings chocolate and crisps into the house!’

Foster admits that being World Indoor Singles champion is the ‘pinnacle’ of his career but he is delighted to be able to represent his country once again.

‘To come to this day and be selected is just another dream come true again,’ he said. ‘I still remember the Games in Glasgow like yesterday.

‘Nothing will probably emulate that, in front of your home crowd and getting two gold medals, but I’m really looking forward to the Gold Coast.

‘In the World Indoor Singles, you’re playing more for yourself whereas the Commonwealth Games you’re representing your country.

‘So they’re both on a par but I love putting on the jersey for Scotland.

‘Nothing gives me a bigger incentive and, as long as I’m playing at the top of my game, I will always represent Scotland.’

Who will line up in which discipline is yet to be decided by head coach David Gourlay but Foster, who won a gold in the Pairs in Melbourne 2006 and a gold in both the Pairs and Fours in Glasgow 2014, believes he can get a medal in the singles in the spring after losing in the quarter-final in 2010 in Delhi.

‘I feel within myself I’m good enough to go there and definitely medal,’ he said.