HONG KONG—While the lawn bowls Premier League summer break officially started after the games played on Saturday July 1, most of the clubs are busy catching up with the re-scheduled matches.
Last Saturday, when Hong Kong recorded the hottest day for July in almost half a century, a total of 46 teams braved the heat to complete their first half schedule. On Sunday a further 12 games were played and now there are only 11 games outstanding from the first half fixture list.
In Happy Valley, officially the hottest district in Hong Kong last Saturday, with a mercury reading of 37.9 degrees Celsius, Division 1 high-flyer Craigengower Cricket Club met their neighbor, Hong Kong Football Club.
Under the hot sun, CCC suffered their first loss of the season, losing 2-6 to their mid-table opponents. They followed that with a first draw of the season on Sunday morning against Premier Division leader Kowloon Bowling Green Club.
CCC are still in the driving seat despite the two disappointing results, when they lost a total of 10 points. They are now second in the table with 4 points less than the leader, but with two games in hand.
At the bottom of the division, Island Lawn Bowls Club looks doomed as they have only taken 9 points from their first half games. They are 22 points below the Police team just above them.
Women’s section
In the women’s Premier League, defending champion Hong Kong Football Club-A is well on course for their record breaking journey of a 10th consecutive title. The team has opened up a lead of five points over second placed Shatin Sports Association, who finished as runners up, behind HKFC for the last two seasons.
At the bottom of the table are Seabird Sports Club and Kowloon Bowling Green Club who are desperately fighting for their survival.
All teams need to finish their outstanding games before August 1. The season will resume on Aug 20.
This week in Lawn Bowls will be the semi-finals and final of the indoor singles to be played at Club de Recreio on Saturday July 16, starting at 9am.
Claudius Lam is an officer of the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
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