The Hong Kong lawn bowls team departed for Brunei on Wednesday Feb 25 to compete in the 1st Brunei International Open Mixed Triples Championship, which starts this weekend and continues until March 4.
The new look Hong Kong team combines the elite bowlers from both the youth team and the senior squad, which includes three debutants, Timmy Kwong, Candy Ng and Kevin Ho; as well as two youngsters in Michael Cheung and Jason Choi. They will be supported by experienced bowlers Emmie Wong, Raymond Ho, Joanna Nam and 2014 Asian Championship gold medallist Helen Cheung.
The team will be divided into three Mixed Triples teams to compete in the tournament. It will be led by national coach Danny Ho and two newly appointed assistant coaches Alice Ho and Terry Lau.
Heron Lau, Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association Vice President in charge of international affairs, wished his best to the team: “This new look Hong Kong team includes representatives from a variety of clubs with a vast range of skillsets. Despite the fact that our team did not have much time to practice for this tournament, with their solid experience we are confident they can perform against their opponents.
“The tournament also gives some of our new squad members a taste of international experience. They understand the significant challenges ahead in taking on the other countries and I know they will be keen to show what they can do at international level.
“Representing your country at any level is always an amazing achievement and honour,” said Lau.
As the Asian Bowls Championship will be held at the same venue in August this year, the tournament also provides the Hong Kong team with a good opportunity to prepare for that tournament. Lau said that the national coaches will monitor the performance of the team closely to decide on the next squad.
The inaugural event is a regional competition that involves Asian countries including China, India, Japan, Macau, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and UAE. It was organised in conjunction with the Brunei Darussalam 32nd National Day and will be held at the Lawn Bowls Complex at Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
The participating teams will be divided into sections to play round-robin matches in the preliminary rounds, and the top teams will progress to the knock-out stages. The format of play will be 2 bowls, Mixed Triples.
Claudius Lam is an Officer with the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
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