HONG KONG—After finishing the last two Premier League seasons as runners-up in Division 1, Kowloon Bowling Green Club-A took fate into their own hands on the last day of the season to regain the title they last won in 2011.
Founded in 1900, KBGC is the longest established lawn bowls club in Hong Kong, however it has only registered eight top flight titles in its 114 years of history.
The club finished behind its friendly neighbor Kowloon Cricket Club for the last two seasons, while losing some of their best players to KCC during the period.
In pursuit of attaining glory, KBGC experimented with a few line-ups in search of the best possible combination for each rink when the season commenced, according to team captain Heron Lau: “Despite a little set back at the beginning, it works better and better as the season goes on.”
The team pulled off a number of good performances at some critical matches, especially the two legs against the defending champion: “The game against KCC a few weeks ago was the match of the season. Before the game we were only one point ahead and that’s a must win game for both teams. The 7-1 victory made our life a bit easier. All we needed was to concentrate our own game. We don’t look to others, we look to ourselves.”
The fight dragged on until the final game of the season last Saturday Oct 25, when KBGC was leading by three points only. They played against mid-tabled Taipo Sports Association while KCC has a tougher match against the Police away from home.
The KBGC rinks skipped by Hong Kong international Stanley Lai and Macau international James Cheng were always in front so victories were only a formality. Lau’s rink struggled a bit and was trailing his opponent Chris Tsang 10:18 after 12 ends. Then a sudden twist of form saw the KBGC rink registered 16 shots in the next five ends, which also included a rare seven on the 14th end, to wrap up the game.
However the results proved meaningless as the KCC team was defeated 6:2 by the Police.
Lau is obviously delighted about winning the title again: “It is always good to win the title back once again, especially when we just lost it on shots difference last year. It made us more eager and determined to win it and I am glad that it worked out well.”
Last weekend also marked a happy ending for the KBGC-B team, who has been rock bottom throughout the season. Their 6-2 victory against Craigengower Cricket Club was just enough to pull them out of the relegation zone, condemning Hong Kong Football Club-B and Indian Recreation Club-A to Division 2 next season.
Next year joining the top flight from Division 2 will be Filipino Club and Island Lawn Bowls Club.
Claudius Lam is an Officer with the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
