Darkness has fallen in Hong Kong and all the lights are on. There are four finals going on, Cup and Plate finals each for the men and women. All the players for all teams are there as dinner is to follow the final over at the Hong Kong Football Club next door. I'll estimate the crowd at over 400 people there. Most of the teams are from local clubs so most of the attention is on the other three matches, especially the Cup final which features the China A team, skipped by the tournament organizer, Jacky Wong. Jacky is putting on a show for the home crowd as there are raucous yells from him and even louder cheers when a good bowl is rolled on that rink. China would end up winning in an extra end. It just adds to the difficult conditions of bowling in the dark under lights, radically changing rink conditions end to end, and now random yells and cheers from over 400 people.
The rules are the same for this match as the last. 8 ends with no skins. No trial bowls or practice. I want to take a personal side note about this. In every match, every individual will have 16 bowls. Normally in a singles or pairs game, that would be the equivalent of 4 ends, and there would be four practice bowls before that. If we go first, which we did, then as the lead the first thing I'll roll on this green is the jack, to try to get the speed off of that and then my bowls. My expectations are low on my results, but I want to try my best to have well-delivered bowls and hopefully provide good information for my teammates so they can pick me up on the first and likely the second ends. That's not excuses, as it is the same for both teams. It is also our seventh match of the day which started at 7:15 AM and it is now 6:30 PM.
Malaysia gets a 4 on the first end, followed up by one on the second end. Everyone is bowling ok on both teams, but there is nothing spectacular. It appears that no one is giving enough grass and it is getting wider as the match goes on. As we change on the third end, Neil stops us and asks if we have bowled under the lights at night before and none of us has. He tells us that it will get wider as it goes along. I mention this because even though Malaysia goes on to take the third end, Scott, Earl and Abe are all noticeably sharper after this. After 3 ends, it is 6-0 Malaysia, however. Phil Dunn, Gary Fischer, from the USA Stripes team and my wife Linda are sitting on the bank on the near side and they encourage us after the third end with a brief USA chant. Aaron and Jim are in with the rest of the crowd at the other end but they cheer as well for us after we make a good shot.
Scott gets one close with his first bowl on the third end, but his second gets loose and goes three yards through. As play goes on, the jack moves and it is the second long bowl that ends up getting the shot for the Americans. Back bowls, boys and girls. Back bowls. The US is on the board and it is 6-1. Abe gets the shot in the fourth end and Earl gets the shot in the fifth to make it 6-3 Malaysia with three ends to go. The upside is that the US is becoming more consistent, while Malaysia is less so.
In the sixth end, all US players are on and we get two points to make it a one point game. Malaysia holds the lead, 6-5, but the momentum and better bowls belongs to the US with two ends to go.
On my first bowl in the seventh end, as I am in the middle of delivering it, a large roar goes up as a result of something going on in the China match. To me, it sounds like it is happening on a radio far away and I still put it 18 inches, back-right of the jack. I've been holding two after my two bowls since the fourth end and it is the same here. There are some movement in and out of bowls but that first one and another shot from Abe holds up, and what was once a rout is now a US lead, 7-6, with one end to play.
Scott, Earl and Abe all bowl better than their opponents in the eighth end and they are holding three, while only needing one, including some back bowls in good position. Neil covers the back on the other side with his first bowl. The Malaysia skip's first bowl is narrow and coming across the head, but it hits the inside of a Malaysia short bowl which re-directs it perfectly to the jack that drags it back a good foot and stays with it. Neil makes a valiant effort but can't get it with his second and the Malaysian skip can't either. It's a tie after 8 ends, 7-7, so we go to an extra end. Winner take all.
They flip a coin and Malaysia wins, but decides to take the mat. Malaysia's lead's first bowl is narrow by 5 feet and long by 2. Scott is 2 feet away back-right. Malaysia's lead's second bowl is narrow and long. It almost is off the rink and way out back left. Scott's second is short left by a foot. Once again holding two. Malaysia's second's first bowl is way left and a yard shorter than their lead's first bowl. Earl comes on the back hand and nearly misses Scott's front bowl and puts it just past Scott's first in the back right. The Malaysian's second bowl is long and left. Earl's second hits Scott's front bowl and puts it jack high on the right about 4 inches away, while he goes through a yard on the left. At this point, the US is holding 4 with a bowl nearly on the jack, two in the back on the right and one on the back in the left, while Malaysia is all off to the left.
Malaysia's vice tries a heavy shot. I'd call it an over draw or a controlled drive to try to either knock the shot bowl off or the jack through and way back to where the Malaysian existing bowls are. At first I think it is too narrow, but the wideness of the green takes over. Somehow, from the forehand, it hits the inside of the shot bowl on the right of the jack which caromes his bowl to the left into the jack. My heart sinks as I watch the jack go nearly dead left about 5 feet, dead on line with the first bowl from each of the Malaysians. The Malaysians have a bowl behind by about a foot and another in front by about two feet and are holding two. I could offer him $100 to try it again with 10 bowls and he wouldn't come close to the same result.
The jack is also on a a new patch of grass with a new line. Abe tries his first and has the weight but he is off line. The Malaysian's second is short but on line, making it tougher to get at. Abe tries again and just misses touching the shot bowl. We change over and encourage Neil as best we can. He was the hero in the last game and hopefully he can be again. The Malaysian skip's first is short, but on the other hand, so the direct line is blocked on both sides now. Neil gives it a go, and just misses tapping the shot bowl. Almost a carbon copy of Abe's. The Malaysian's skip's second is long and left. All up to the last bowl and this is far from an easy shot for Neil. He lets it go. It looks like a good line and weight. It gets past the front bowl. It heads to the shot bowl and touches it, but only enough to shake it and not move it. Malaysia wins 8-7 in 9 ends.
Obviously it helps to bowl well, but you need some luck in this game. On the first day, we had zero, and I mean zero bounces go our way. The second day we bowled like all-stars and we had lady luck on our side, but she is fickle and left us in those last two ends. That's lawn bowling. But it was an incredible experience, bowling at various clubs in Hong Kong, including a final under the bright lights with a fairly large crowd and a silver medal from the Hong Kong tour is a great accomplishment and we did our country proud.
Our spirits are up as we head to China for the second leg of our tour.
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