A win and a loss over the weekend saw the lead of defending champion Kowloon Cricket Club at the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association Premier League cut to four points.
They are now chased closely by last season’s runners-up Kowloon Bowling Green Club, who won two games on Saturday and Sunday to close the gap.
KCC played second-placed Hong Kong Football Club on Saturday Sept 14 in a top-of-the-table clash.
Former Hong Kong No.1, Noel Kennedy from KCC quickly opened up a lead of 8:0 against CT Wong after just three ends. Kennedy was never troubled and took the game 20:11.
Another KCC player, former Hong Kong International Danny Ho, won the last four ends to beat Johnny Tsang 15:12.
Chadwick Chen also took the same route in the last four ends, but was on the wrong side of it. When the score was tied with Warren Cheung on the 14th end, KCC’s Chen lost a staggering 11 shots in the last four ends to leave two points at Sports Road.
It could have been even worse, but KCC hung on to beat HKFC by one shot in the accumulate shots tally to win the game 6-2.
However, KCC did not enjoy much luck in the game against Indian Recreation Club on the following day, which was originally meant to be played on the weekend before but cancelled mid-way through due to rain. They lost 7-1 away from home, with the only point coming from Danny Ho’s rink.
Third-placed KBGC took advantage of the slip by KCC and HKFC to move into second, after beating their Team B team-mates 7-1 in the postponed match and winning at Filipino Club’s home green 6-2.
Now KCC lead the table on 57-points, followed by KBGC’s 54-points. HKFC is further back with 47-points.
Incidentally, what could turn out to be the title deciding match between the two leading teams is scheduled as the last game of the season.
At the bottom, Island Lawn Bowls Club’s survival bid suffered another blow when they lost to HKFC-A 6-2. The 25-points they have accumulated in their first ever season in the top flight finds them rooted to the bottom, with little hope 15 points away from safety.
Women’s
The two leaders, Hong Kong Football Club and Shatin Sports Association, both registered 8-0 victory over the weekend, so there was no change at the top of the table. Despite holding a four-point lead, HKFC-A has played one more game than their STSA-A, so the title race is still wide open.
Claudius Lam is an Officer with the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
