HONG KONG—After falling at the semi-finals stage for 6 times in the last 8 years, veteran Chadwick Chen from Kowloon Cricket Club finally won his first National Singles title at the Finals Day on Sunday, Nov 20..
Chen, who has played bowls for 34 years since the age of eight, has won the U-25 Singles twice and a National Triples in 2006. His latest heart-breaking moment in the National Singles was a walk-over to clubmate Ken Chan in last year’s semi-finals due to work commitment.
After defeating James Po of the Hong Kong Youth Team in the semi-final in the morning of Finals Day, Chen faced Hong Kong International Li Ming Sum from Filipino Club to challenge for his first title.
In the final Chen demonstrated a high level of confidence and started the game with two touchers. He won 3 shots in this end to set the pace of the match.
Despite dominating for most of the match, occasional losses of concentration almost cost him dearly. Chen lost 4 shots each in the 5th and 8th end to allow Li to overtake him temporarily.
In the 12th end Li played a great shot to trail the jack and turned a 2-down situation to win by 4. After this end it was all Chen as he took 7 shots from the following 4 ends. Li pulled one back but it was not enough, and Chen took another 2 shots to kill the game.
A jubilant Chen thought that he was not playing at his best, “Both me and Li were not playing very well in the final, probably because of the tricky green. During the match I was also distracted by the presence of my son and lost big counts in a few ends. But luckily I could re-focus and won it.
“This is the trophy I have been waiting for a long time,” Chen could not hide his delight after taking the title.
