Vivian Yip Retains U25 Singles Title

Vivian Yip Retains U25 Singles Title
James Tang (left) of the Hong Kong Youth Team and Vivian Yip from Hong Kong Football Club proudly displays their Under-25 Singles trophies at Taipo Waterfront Park, on Sunday Nov 30, 2014. (Howard Poon)
12/2/2014
Updated:
12/4/2014

Twenty-two year old girl Vivian Yip successfully defended her Under-25 singles title at Taipo Waterfront Park, last Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014.

Yip was the youngest bowler to lift the Indoor Singles trophy back in 2011 and also the youngest winner of the Champion of Champions in April 2014. On Monday, she traveled with the Hong Kong team to Shenzhen, China to compete in the Asian Championship 2014.

This year a total of 28 boys and 23 girls participated in the annual singles tournament specially designed for bowlers under the age of 25. The competition started with a round-robin with the winners progressing to the knock-out stage.

Yip, who joined Hong Kong Football Club after quitting the Hong Kong Youth Team earlier this year, knocked out three times champion Zita Chan (2004, 2005, 2007) in the quarter-finals and two times champion Crystal Li (2011, 2012) in the semi-final to set up a final against Monica Ho from the Hong Kong Youth Team.

She started the final well, opened a lead of 6:2 after just five ends. Ho tried to fight back and got as close as 11:10 in the 15th end. However Yip geared up in the next three ends and finished the game 18:11 to win the match.

Despite winning her second title in a row, Yip did not think she played to her best in the final attributes her success to the Hong Kong team training camp she attended earlier this year, “I played mediocre today, but I am glad that the Hong Kong team training taught me how to handle pressure better and this is critical in situations like today.”

While she did not have any aspiration for lawn bowls, her prime target is to do well in the Asian Championship and challenge for the Bowler of the Year in the future.

In the boy’s competition, James Tang from the Hong Kong Youth Team defeated team-mate and Novice Singles champion Jason Choi in the final to lift his first major title.

Tang, who started bowling in 2005, has put in lots of effort to prepare for the competition, including practice at the venue a day before the match day, “I also studied my opponents in the last few rounds and prepared the tactics to target at their weakness.

“Such preparation gave me confidence and help to remain stable throughout the competition,” he said. Tang also hopes that he will break into the Hong Kong team one day.

Claudius Lam is an Officer of the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.