LEGENDARY Troon bowler Paul Foster MBE is celebrating a fifth triumph in the indoor bowling world's blue riband event.

The taxi owner on Sunday won his fifth Just World Professional Indoor Singles title, and pocketed a cool £55,000, after defeating Englishmanh and local hero Greg Harlow in a tie-break in the final in Norfolk.

He turned in an electrifying display, coming from behind to lift the coveted title for the first time since 2011, with the South Ayrshireman's form progressing as the tournament went on.

Now he is just one short of best mate Alex Marshall MBE, who has six championships.

“My first title is always going to be the most memorable one, but this was special,” revealed Foster.

“It’s incredibly difficult not just to win one, but two, three, four or five. This is definitely up there with the rest of them. I think that was my best performance of the tournament. I got better and better as the rounds went on – you can’t peak too early.

The 43-year-old lost the first set 10-7, with a Harlow full house on end three proving to be the decisive factor, but from there on in it was all Foster, as he dominated the portable blue rink in indomitable fashion, winning eight of the nine ends in set two to take it 11-1 and trigger the three-end lottery, in which he won the first two ends.

Remarkably, despite Foster being given a stern test by Harlow, he won 13 of the last 15 ends, conceding just two shots in that period as he bludgeoned the City of Ely ace into virtual submission. It wasn’t a a total battering but crucially Foster was getting in first every time, leaving Harlow constantly on the back foot.

“Even if I had lost that match on the tie-break, I would still have been happy because I thought I played very well,” added Foster.

“I hung on in the first set which gave me a bit of boost for the second and that was probably one of the best sets I have ever played. My first bowl was bang on every time and that’s what you’ve got to do.

“I wanted to get an early lead in the second set, even if it was just 2-1 after three ends. My first bowl in that set was 99 per cent of times, bang on. He started running as I put him under pressure and when I got to 7-1, I knew it was going to a tie-break.

“I always feel confident in a tie-break, but as everyone knows looking at Greg’s results, anything can happen. You say to yourself, ‘I don’t want to lose the World title on a fluke."

Annbank ace David Gourlay lost to Harlow in the quarter-final and the Englishman then went on to defeat Auchinleck's Stewart Anderson in the semi-final.