The reigning Scottish Open champion Iain McLean finally got his hand on the ultimate trophy at the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic after two close finishes, winning the men’s pairs competition with compatriot Robert Grant.
McLean, who finished runners-up in 2010 and was third last year, did not have the best of performance in the round-robin stage, losing four consecutive games from round six to nine, against Hong Kong, Ireland, Concordia and Craigengower Cricket Club.
“The internationals and the local club players are very very strong,” said McLean. “That made it a very difficult competition.
“Into the last game anyone from four or five teams could qualify and it proved that it is a tough competition.”
The Scottish team beat Kowloon Cricket Club in the last game to take pole position of the group.
They went on to dispatch Police, the only local team left in the competition, at the Semi-finals and set up a Final with New Zealand, who did it the hard way by beating Australia and England enroute to the Final.
The first set of the Final is a tight affair and was tied at 7:7 with only the last end to play. The Kiwi skipper Richard Girvan drew a superb shot with his last bowl to hold a one shot advantage. And then stepped up Robert Grant, who played a driving shot to hit Girvan’s bowl, which in turn pushed the jack into the ditch for the Scottish to win by a shot.
“They came strong towards the end of the first set and Richard delivered a great bowl to line the set, but Robert’s drive was great and set our rhythm for the second set,” said McLean.
This obviously boosted the moral of the Scots and they were always in front in the second set. In the fourth end when the score was close at 3:2, Grant delivered another great bowl when they were one down to take a four. From then there was no way back for the New Zealand team and the second set finished 12:4.
McLean admitted that the Final was not the best of his games.
“I struggle a bit compared with the game I play before, but Robert showed his real class.
“Despite living just within 10 minutes of each other, this is the first time I played with Robert and he is fantastic throughout. It just feels excellent to win this tournament with him,” said a delighted McLean.
The win will also greatly improve McLean and Grant’s chance of representing Scotland in the coming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year as the results will be counted when the team is picked.
In fact, all teams that will take part in the Commonwealth Games are using this Classic to evaluate their players for the competition as the Hong Kong greens carry a similar characteristic with those in Glasgow.
Women’s Pairs
Kelsey Cottrell became the first women to win three Hong Kong International Bowls Classic Pairs titles.
Cottrell, a 23-year-old student from New South Wales, won the competition with Julie Keegan in 2009 and 2010. This time she did it with new partner Carla Odgers, after beating Val Smith and Mandy Boyd from New Zealand in the Final also on last Sunday, Nov 17.
Claudius Lam is an Officer with the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association.
