The first week of the Asia Pacific Championships 2019 saw 3 days of sectional competition in 4 disciplines, namely Men’s Pairs and Triples and Women’s Singles and fours. The draw then meant that each team had 8 matches in their section with the top 3 in each group progressing to the finals. The top 6 in each section then qualify for the World Bowls Championships 2020.
Full details of all the matches can be found through the bowls Australia Facebook page but herewith a summary of some fantastic bowls during the week.
The Men’s pair of Tony Cheung and Imen Tang ended up with 4 wins and 4 losses against some extremely strong opposition but meant they ended 4th in their section just outside the finals qualification. Similarly the Men’s triples team of Adrian Yau, Lyndon Sham and James Po had 5 wins and 3 losses which also left them in an agonising 4th place on shot difference.
In the women’s singles event Helen Cheung played some excellent bowls from the outset giving world no.1 Jo Edwards a good run in her first game but again some stiff opposition saw her also finish in 4th place with 5 wins and 3 losses.
The women’s fours of Cheryl Chan, Gloria Ha, Phyllis Wong and skip Angel So played well all week but really did get stronger as their confidence grew and they ended up with 5 wins and only 2 losses to place them 3rd and a chance of a medal.
Today they went out and beat Canada quite comfortably 17-7 in the morning in a very disciplined performance and then had to face the mighty New Zealand team in the semi final in the afternoon. This didn’t faze them one bit and dominated from the outset going to an 11-2 advantage by the halfway mark. The kiwis however clawed their way back in an action packed encounter which eventually saw the blackjacks get 1 from an unfortunate rebound leaving the scores tied at 12 – 12 after the regulation 15 ends. The last end was excruciating to watch with us claiming, then them, then us and it was a bitter pill to take when Angel clinically removed their shot wood with her last wood leaving them still up one and take the match. An outstanding performance from the girls and a well deserved bronze medal.
A great performance from the whole team this week and importantly it means that Hong Kong qualify for these 4 disciplines in the World Bowls Championship to be held here on the Gold Coast in June 2020. Next week we will switch to the Men’s singles and fours and the women’s pairs and triples and the way the team are playing it should be a very interesting week ahead.