A surprise defeat suffered by the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association Premier League leader Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC), this time at the hands of the bottom team Island Lawn Bowls Club (ILBC), left the Division One title wide open.
The defending champion—who led their closest rival Kowloon Bowling Greens Club (KBGC) by 5 points before the Round 16 game on Saturday Oct 12—travelled to Ap Lei Chau for what was considered to be a routine game against the club who has been anchored to the bottom since day one of the season.
“If we won the game 8:0 the league could be finished next week (Oct 19),” according to former Hong Kong No.1 Noel Kennedy, who skipped one of the KCC rinks.
The results came as a big surprise because of the three KCC rinks, only Chadwick Chen drew level with Hong Kong International Li Ming Sum to win them a solitary point.
“They [ILBC] have no pressure and they are playing well,” said Kennedy. “One of their team played exceptionally well and beat Danny Ho comfortably.
“We were leading and they caught up, we caught back up, ding-dong the whole way, we are five down into the last end and we have a chance of getting an eight. I split two (opponent’s) bowls with my last bowl, one went out and the other knocks onto our bowl. If that bowl went out we will get an eight. But it didn’t so we lost 7:1.
“It is disappointing because we weren’t expecting a 7:1 lost.
“We lost a couple of games before, but bounced back with more wins. We will put Saturday’s game behind us and move on, win next week and then it is all down to the last game.
“Now it goes down to the last game between the top two teams and that’s the way it should be. May the best team win. On the day, whoever plays better, wins the game and wins the league. It should be a good game,” said Kennedy.
KBGC played their scheduled game earlier and emerged a 6:2 winner against mid-tabled Hong Kong Football Club. Now they are trailing the leader by one single point.
The win also gives a life-line to ILBC, who is now only eight points away from safety. They will play Filipino Club, the team just in front of them, in the last game of the season.
With two games to go, anything is possible.
Men’s National Pairs
On the following day after Noel Kennedy and Ken Chan lost to the bottom team in the Premier League, the duo progressed to the Final of the Men’s National Pairs by defeating Lee Ka Ho and Adrian Yau from the Hong Kong Youth Team in the Semi-finals on Sunday Oct 13.
The game was a tight affair and both teams demonstrated a high level of technique throughout. In the second last end, when Kennedy’s team was leading by 16:14, he was trailing a five shot deficit with only his last bowl to play. He drew an outstanding shot to win the end and eliminate Lee’s and Yau’s hope. The game finished 18:14.
Kennedy and Chan will play Marshall To and David Tso from Craigengower Cricket Club in the Final.
Claudius Lam is an Officer with the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
