Novices help inspire team to success
A lack of experience in lawn bowls did not mean young talents were unable to match veterans of the sport at this year's Inter-school Lawn Bowls Competition.
Members from the winning team, YCH No2 Secondary School, had a secret weapon: they were able to take part in the Tuen Mun Sports Association's training at the Wu Shan Bowling Green in Tuen Mun, which is close to their homes.
Andy Tung Hou-tin, 15, a Form Three student, says: 'Apart from joining in with the Association's training, I sometimes book a bowling green at Wu Shan and play with my teammate, Angus [Lee Man-ho], after school. Angus lives next door to me so I get many chances to play with him.'
Andy and Angus both joined Hong Kong's junior team weeks before the inter-school tournament. They believe that getting to know each other's game really well is the key to success.
Teammate Bobby Lee Yat-min, 15, who is a Form Three student, gave up playing football for the school team so he could focus on lawn bowls a year and a half ago.
'Bobby starts the game quite well, while Andy can deliver the bowls to the designated position, which always gives our team an advantage,' Angus says. 'As skip - playing last - I know them quite well and that was why we form such a successful team.'
After this year's victory, Bobby hopes to become more of an all-rounder in the sport.
'I am still not able to perform well in different roles during a match. I'm a steady performer only when I am the lead [first] player,' Bobby says. 'Once I improve, joining the Hong Kong junior team will be my target.'
Meanwhile, Jason Chow, 16, a Form Four student, who led the school's B team, was delighted to help two new players gain match experience.
Jason, the singles champion in last year's Youth Novice Lawn Bowls Competition, linked up with two novice players to reach the quarter-final. 'I played in the same team as Angus last year and we took it in turns being skip.
'However, this year I chose to play with two beginners top help them improve. We did well before losing in the quarter-final to Cheung Chuk Shan, who were the better team,' he says.
