St Paul's, DGS players on a roll

Students from St Paul's College and Diocesan Girls' School (DGS) set the lanes on fire to take top honours at the Inter-School Tenpin Bowling Competition 2009/2010. The tournament - organised by the Hong Kong Schools Sports Federation - was held at the Mei Foo Bowling World in Kowloon last Friday.

Following the individual competition held on April 14, the youngsters got together again in Mei Foo last week to take part in the team events. After a three-hour battle, St Paul's were crowned boys' champions, while DGS won the girls' title.

The first inter-school bowling tournament was launched in 2004. Earlier, both individual and team events were mixed. But this year, with more girls participating in the competition, there were separate teams for girls and boys.

DGS coach Hiddi Sung Man-yiu said the new arrangement was fairer to the girls. 'Although there were some score adjustments for girls in the past, dividing the team competition into boys and girls is good,' Sung said. 'After all, it is fairer to the girls, as they have less energy and power than the boys. I hope to see more girls taking part in the sport in future.'

To ensure fair play, the scores were still adjusted. In team events, each Hong Kong squad member had 30 points deducted from their total score. In the individual events - which were mixed - 30 points were also taken away from the total score of a Hong Kong squad member, but girls were allowed to add 30 to their final tally.

DGS captain Victoria Chan Chee-yan, 14, said she was happy they defended their title with a total score of 1,369.

'My performance in the individual competition earlier this month was not good,' said Victoria, a member of the Hong Kong youth squad. 'At the same time, we had two Hong Kong junior squad members on our team, so we had to deduct 60 marks from our total score. These combined to give me great pressure. I'm happy that my performance was steady today. I really have to thank my teammates for their support.'

Although most people were happy with the new arrangement, it disrupted the strategy of Ho Lap College who came third last year. Originally, Otto Leung Yuk-fung, 13, and his younger sister Gigi Leung Chi-yung, 12, were due to compete on the same team. But, under the new rules, the siblings had to represent different teams.

Otto, who scored 627 points, helped his team to second place, while Gigi's team came fourth.

Alex Li Siu-tsun, from Pui Ching Middle School, won the individual championship on April 14. Alex also recorded the highest score of 746 from the three games.

For full results, visit www.hkssf.org.hk