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Andy Chan looks miserable as Ken Chan delivers the winning shot of the game in the Men’s National Singles at Craigengower Cricket Club on Tuesday Oct 23. (Mike Worth)
Well-decorated young bowler Ken Chan added two singles titles to his name within six days to move closer to completing his collection of singles titles in the local bowls community.
Chan won a record five U-25 Singles titles and was Knock Out Singles champion in 2005. After winning the National Indoor Singles last Thursday (Oct 18) and the National Singles on Tuesday (Oct 23), he will now set his sights on the Champion of Champions, which he narrowly missed in 2007. He also won a gold medal in the Asian Bowls U-25 Singles Championship in 2009.
Indoor Singles
In the youngest-ever Final in the history of the National Indoor Singles, 27-year-old Chan faced 23-year-old Anthony Yip from the Hong Kong Youth Team who knocked out 5-time winner Danny Ho in the Semi-final.
Chan, who defeated the reigning Bowler of the Year, Raymond Ho, in the Semi-final, started the Final cautiously. The score of 3:2 in the first five ends shows how tight the game was. However, Yip lost concentration slightly in the sixth end and Chan took advantage to gain three shots to open up the gap. Yip never recovered and lost the first set.
The second set was more open as Yip looked for ways to overturn the deficit. Despite a little set back for Chan who made an error in the fifth end to take out his own bowl to lose four shots to Yip, Chan was always in a commanding position and won the second set 11:7.
National Singles
Ken Chan’s good form prevailed in the Final of the National Singles five days later when he faced Hong Kong team teammate Andy Chan.
Ken displayed the kind of form that pushed him to the top of the local bowlers’ ranking, taking just one-and-a-half hours to dispatch his opponent. The score-line of 21:10 truly reflected that the game was one-sided.
Chan, whose successes demonstrate that he is arguably Hong Kong’s best bowler going around at the moment, attributes his success to the power of God.
“Since becoming a Christian two years ago, my mind became peaceful and it helps my calmness during games,” said Chan.
“Keeping your composure is important in lawn bowls because it allows you to make the correct judgement and choose the right tactics.”
Another factor is that he claims to not treat winning or losing seriously.
“You just need to believe in yourself and perform your best. It is important that you allow yourself to make the journey; the result is just a bonus,” said Chan.
Meanwhile, Andy Chan thinks that the Craigengower Cricket Club green made it difficult for him. Andy said that even Ken was not playing at his best, probably because of the green, but it was himself that struggled the most throughout the game.
“It has a tricky bias and by the time I adapted to it, Ken had gotten the upper hand,” Andy said after the game. “Once you need to chase in a game, it will be difficult to show what you really can do.”
Meanwhile, Elisa Cheung of Indian Recreation Club beat Alice Lee from Shatin Sports Association 21:19 to clinch the women’s National Singles title.
Premier League Updates
Most divisions played their final games in the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association Premier League last weekend and it is confirmed that Victoria Lawn Bowls Club (VLBC) is the biggest loser this season, with three of their five teams relegated.
VLBC—the first lawn bowls club using public greens in Hong Kong—ended the season in pathetic fashion, with only one win and 28 points in Division 1. Joining them in the Division 2 next year is Greende Lawn Bowls Club who also ended their 8-year presence in the elite division.
Making their debut in next year’s Division 1 will be Island Lawn Bowls Club, who only lost once at home in the whole season. Filipino Club also sneaked past their opponents in the last game to return to the top division.
The men’s Divisions 5 to 7 will play their last game this coming weekend to draw a curtain to the Premier League this season.
Meanwhile, Lee Ka Ho of Kowloon Bowling Green Club won the coveted Men’s Division 1 best skip award.
Claudius Lam is an Officer with the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
