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.
In the women’s competition, defending champion Tammy Tham from Kowloon Cricket Club faced 2014 champion Dorothy Yu from Hong Kong Football Club in the final.
The match was tight as both side were leading at some stage. Yu got a better touch from the 12th end onward, when the score was tied at 9-9. She won 7 shots in the following 3 ends and despite losing another 2 ends with a shot each, she continued to take 5 shots from the last 3 ends to clinch the title.
Yu didn’t think she played particularly well in the final, “I was tired in the final because the semi-final in the morning was much harder. I used up most of my energy to chase the game and fortunately I got through.
“The green for the final is a bit tricky so I don’t think either of us played to our usual standard. We were both struggling so I had to concentrate on the drawing. I am glad that it worked out fine,” said a delighted Yu.
Other results
In the men’s 2-4-2 Pairs CCC (Kevin Fung, Jordi Lo) beat Greende Lawn Bowls Club (Jimmy So, Stephen Chan) 17:7; and in the women' s CdeR (Candy Ng, Angela Chau) beat City Lawn Bowls Club (Ada Lam, Chung Suet Fong) 15-10.
In the Mixed Triples, CCC (Albert Lo, Angel So, Robin Chok) beat HKFC (Barry Ho, Priscilla Lam, Donald Wu) 19-14
In the Men’s Novice Pairs CdeR (Steven Ho, Charles FungoHH) beat SSC (Vincent Liu, Terence Wong) 21-4 and in the women’s HKCC (Alice Chan, Maria See) beat Golden Bauhinia LBC (Polly Mak, Cora Ng) 17-15.
This is the third year in a row for Nong’s Company Ltd to sponsor the National Singles.
This week in Lawn Bowls
This week in Lawn Bowls, The Golden Stag Lawn Bowls Competition will take place (Nov 26-27) at the Ap Lei Chau Sports Complex from 9am until 6pm.
Claudius Lam is an officer of the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
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