KCC Leads Triples League into Final Two Rounds

Lawn Bowls—Triples League

Imen Tang of Craigengower Cricket Club jumped in anxiety as the bowl from his skipper Lui Chin Hong (Not in photo) narrowly missed the target and lost four shots in this end. Eventually Lui lost the game 17:20 but CCC still finished with a 6-2 overall victory. Mike Worth

HONG KONG—The penultimate match of the Triples League season this weekend will see league leader Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC) and defending champions Craigengower Cricket Club (CCC) playing away from home in what are considered as the title-deciders. KCC traveled to CCC last weekend, Feb 3, to face a struggling CCC-A, who have been anchored at the bottom since the commencement of the competition. CCC’s KT Fung opened up a lead of 10:1 after six end but eventually lost 12:15 to Jimmy Chiu. On the contrary, CCC’s Kevin Fung lost 1:9 after fourth end but came from behind to beat Danny Ho 17:13. As the shots were tight, the aggregate score depended on the result of the match between CCC’s Simpson Chang and KCC’s Arthur Lam. Lam was holding six shots into the 14th ends but lost them all in these two ends so needed to play the last end on a tied score. Both teams played well in the final end and the head was altered several times. After Chang played all his bowls, Lam believed that he was holding a shot however, the head was so tight that he decided to forfeit his last bowls. He won the shot by 1mm to claim the game. As the aggregate shots was tied, KCC can only take home five points. CCC-B, who were trailing the leader by five points, also played at home last Saturday. They defeated mid-tabled Filipino Club 6-2 to cut the deficit to four points. Their only failure was from Lui Chin Hong who lost to Hong Kong international Lim Ming Sum 17:20. Third-placed Hong Kong Football Club (HKFC) suffered their third draw in the last four games after they could only secure four points at lowly Kowloon Bowling Green Club. After the weekend KCC-A maintained the lead with 44 points, followed by CCC-B (40 points) and HKFC-A (37 points). This weekend KCC-A will travel to Taipo to play against the Youth Development Team, while CCC-B will play HKFC-A at the new Hong Kong Football Club indoor greens. HKFC-A are just seven points behind KCC-A so still have not given up their hope of the title. For the women’s section, HKFC-A look promising to retain the title they won in 2011 to 2014. They defeated bottom team KBGC 0-8 away from home and climbed to the top for the first time in three years. The team is now level on points at the top with Seabird Sports Club (SBSC), who defeated CCC-A 6-2 at home. One point behind them are the defending champions Island Lawn Bowls Club (ILBC), who beat 2015 champion Shatin Sports Association 5-3 at home. HKFC-A hold an advantage over their closest rivals as they will play their last two games at home. SBSC will have a game away while ILBC will play two away games. This week in Lawn Bowls The Triples League continues this Saturday Feb 10 with matches starting at 2:30pm at all greens in Hong Kong. On Sunday the Champion of Champions Singles will be played at CdeR and KBGC, starting at 9am with finals taking place at from 3:45pm at KBGC.

Claudius Lam is an officer of the Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association