ZoomVlog

While Hong Kong’s bowlers struggle after three years in the international wilderness, officials hope the Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships currently taking place in the city represent a return to normalcy for the sport.

A failure to win a single medal from three events in four days might not suggest better days ahead, but a fifth-placed finish in the men’s trios for Wu Siu-hong, Michael Mak Cheuk-yin, and Tony Wong Kwan-yuen, who scored 4,245, was enough to instil confidence in Vivien Lau Chiang-chu, the Tenpin Bowling Association’s chairwoman.

“Without competitions for three years, it takes time to adjust their mental side for the competition,” Lau said. “The trios showed us they are on the right track for a comeback and I have high hopes for the Team Event [which begins on Sunday].”

Tenpin bowling returns to Hong Kong with Asian Championships

Mak, one of the city’s core bowlers, contracted Covid-19 one week before the event, and according to Lau, the 28-year-old was lucky to recover in time for the postponed regional championships.

Meanwhile, Wu, a former world champion, got off to a slow start in the event after missing three years of competition because of the pandemic. He and finished 17th in the singles, and alongside Mak, ninth in the doubles

“I was supposed to compete in the World Cup in Queensland in November, but I got Covid-19, so this Asian Championships is really my first event in three years,” Wu said.

“To be honest, I was nervous in the first few days [of the championships], it’s a bit of a complicated feeling, the past three years seem like a blank page to me, so boring to just train.

“Though the results are not what I wanted, at least we are back on the battlefield, and I believe everything will be fine soon,”

Wong, has been Hong Kong’s best bowler at the championships, and is currently ranked fifth in the men’s all-events list, having finished 13th in singles, seventh in the doubles, with partner James Lui Chin-hung, and fifth in trios.

Some 219 athletes from 16 countries are taking part in six events at the South China Athletic Association’s bowling centre, with the championships running Wednesday.

The men had the day off on Saturday as the women began the first block of the team of five event, with Korea leading with a total score of 3,728, followed by Singapore with 3,565 and Malaysia with 3,493.

Malaysia have already swept the board in one team event, finishing in all three podium spots in the trios.

Singapore currently leads the overall medal tally with three gold, one silver, and one bronze medal, with Cherie Tan winning both women’s singles and trios, along with partners New Hui Fen and Shayna Ng, and Timothy Tham and Muhd Jaris Goh winning the men’s doubles competition.

Lau said that the performance of the past week suggested the need for Hong Kong’s bowlers to get back to international competition as quickly as possible.

“From now on, we will send as many of our players as possible to international competitions,” she said. “We do not want them to fall behind again.”

Between May and October there will be seven International Open Championships held in Asia, including one in Hong Kong from June 11 to 17, followed by a tournament in Macau the following week.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kwLG70a1moaeenHqsu82gZpqqpJ6wrbGObGlpbmhnhnCt0qKYp2Wkmruxtc1mmaivnJ67qHnCoZimqJmku7S0yKmqZqCfo7Rut86nnmaZpJ25psDErGSsrKKqtKi4xGaYn6yVp3p0ediemKurXZ67tbHRp5itoZ%2Bjrq0%3D