Entering a short break into the Chinese New Year, Division 1 of the Men’s Triples League sees the tightest competition in many years, with six points separating the top six teams and three points dividing the bottom four.
Before last weekend’s matches, Kowloon Cricket Club had a 5-point lead ahead of the chasing pack and was looking to extend their lead when visiting the third-placed Police.
Boosted by five current and former Hong Kong international players, the KCC team started well on Saturday (Jan 25), but Police quickly found their home green advantage to maintain a tight competition throughout.
The KCC team skipped by Mike Dowie—who is a retired senior police officer, but plays for KCC now—lost by two shots to Police’s Paul Pang’s team.
Meanwhile, former Hong Kong international Danny Ho was also defeated by Paul Sze 17:12.
The only success for KCC came from ex-Hong Kong international Jimmy Chiu, who beat ex-New Zealand squad member Dave Hanson by a single shot.
Elsewhere, second placed Kowloon Bowling Green Club did not slip up at Sports Road, the home green of Hong Kong Football Club. They beat the hosts 6:2 with wins from teams skipped by Terry Lau and Stanley Lai.
With two more games to go, KCC’s lead of one solitary point at the summit looks extremely fragile. They are now closely followed by KBGC and Police, who are both on 36 points. Further down the table are HKFC, who is on 34 points, but still a threat.
Interesting enough, for those teams who are not engaged in the challenge for the title, they will be busy fighting for their survival. With eight points available each week and as the four teams at the bottom are only separated by three points, anything could happen in the last two games of the season.
Womens
For the women, the Hong Kong Football Club is well on course for a quinella finish at the top. Its B team won 8:nil at home against Seabird Sport Club last weekend and is now leading the table by 1-point.
The defending champion of HKFC-A team lost their game at KCC 6:2 last weekend, but still managed to maintain its second position. However, the outlook for the HKFC-A team does not look good as they have played one game more.
Further behind are the Police team, who is trailing the leader by 4- points.
The penultimate game will be played after the Chinese New Year, on Feb 8.
The Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association wishes all bowlers good health and an auspicious year ahead.
Claudius Lam is an Officer with the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
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