Wong Chun Yat, Hong Kong’s Men’s Bowler of the Year, heads a group of seven new players to earn a spot with the 2013-2014 Hong Kong squad, the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association announced recently.
Wong, the winner of National Singles, National Fours and Champion of Champions Singles, will be joined by two other new faces in the men’s squad: Kevin Fung from Craigengower Cricket Club and Boris Choi from the Police.
Meanwhile, also returning to the men’s squad are two young players Jerry Ng and Lee Ka Ho, who were missing from the squad last year.
Leading the men’s squad ranking is Ken Chan, winner of the National Singles and Indoor Singles, followed by last year’s Bowler of the Year, Raymond Ho.
Rounding out the seven new members, four women also made the squad for the first time, including Dorothy Yu and Emmie Wong from the Hong Kong Football Club, and Florence Lau and Sanlia Wong from the Filipino Club.
Top of the women’s squad ranking is this year’s Women Bowler of the Year Helen Cheung.
While there will be no major tournaments outside of Asia to compete in this year, the team will still compete in regional competitions, including the Asia Championship, Asia Pacific Merdeka Championship, Japan Open and the Hong Kong Bowls International Classic.
The squad is probably the youngest one Hong Kong have ever had according to Heron Lau, Vice President—International at HKLBA.
“If you look at the men’s squad, more than half of them are around or below the age of 30,” said Lau. “This is good for the longer term because we can build our development plan around these young players.
“And the fact that four of them have had different level of involvement with the Youth Team also reflects that HKLBA’s direction of investing in the younger generation is correct.”
However, Lau also expressed his regret on the loss of some older hands.
“Danny Ho and Noel Kennedy are both top bowlers in Hong Kong, but did not make the squad due to insufficient points earned. Their international experience is unrivalled and I sincerely hope that they can pick themselves up and join the future squad.”
Meanwhile, Lau also said that a training camp is being arranged for the squad in July.
“The last two training camps have generated good feedback from the squad members. This year we will introduce a new coach to bring in some new thoughts for the squad.
“It is important for the team members to open up their minds and advance.”
According to the rules, only the players included in the Hong Kong Squad are eligible for selection to play for Hong Kong. The Squad includes the top 15 players from each gender’s ranking system, which counts the points achieved in major national competitions over the last three years.
National Triples Postponed
The National Triples became the latest casualty of the poor weather that has persistent for more than a week. All the Round 1 matches scheduled for last Sunday (March 31) were postponed for a week. With the adverse weather outlook, there is a high possibility that the matches will be further delayed this week.
Claudius Lam is an Officer with the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
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