WINNING TANDEM. Marisa Baronda (left) and Rosita Bradborn show the trophy they won in the 14th Asian Lawn Bowls Championships in Ipoh, Malaysia in February this year. They will represent the country in the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic next month on Nov. 11-19. (Contributed photo)
MANILA – Four of the country's best lawn bowlers have been invited to compete in the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic set from Nov. 11 to 19.
More than 730 world-class athletes have joined the prestigious tournament which the Lawn Bowls Association of Hong Kong has been organizing since 1981.
Games will be played at the Kowloon Bowling Green Club, Kowloon Cricket Club and Club de Recrecio.
Carrying the national colors are Rodel Labayo and Elmer Abatayo (men's pairs) and Rosita Bradborn and Marisa Baronda (women's pairs), who won their respective events at the 14th Asian Championships in Ipoh, Malaysia last February.
Baronda also took the bronze in singles while Abayato shared the bronze with Ronald Lising, Leoncio Carreon Jr. and Hommer Mercado in the fours team.
Last month, Labayo, Abayato, Baronda and Bradborn saw action at the 14th World Outdoor Bowls Championships Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
"It was a very tough competition this year than the previous one. The wind is strong and then suddenly stops. Compared to the last world event, it was windy but still so easy to adjust," said Ronalyn Greenlees, the former Philippine Lawn Bowls Association president who is now a Level 2 international coach, in an interview on Tuesday.
Australia pocketed the overall title in the men's division for the fourth time with two gold medals from triples (Corey Wedlock, Aron Sherriff and Carl Healey) and fours (Wedlock, Sherriff, Healey and Aaron Teys) as well as a silver (Aaron Wilson and Aaron Teys) in pairs and a bronze in singles (Wilson).
Ireland was second with one gold courtesy of pairs Adam McKeown and Gary Kelly. In the women's division, New Zealand was crowned overall champion with three medals -- a gold in singles (Tayla Bruce), a silver in triples (Leeane Poulson, Val Smith and Bruce) and a bronze in fours (Katelyn Inch, Selina Goddard, Poulson and Smith).
The other gold medalists were Canadian Ryan Bester (men's singles), Malaysians Aleena Nawawi and Ain Nahbila Tarmizi (women's pairs), Australians Kelsey Cottrell, Lynsey Clarke and Dawn Hayman (women's triples) and England's Sophie Tolchard, Jamie-Lea Marshall, Lorraine Kuhler and Amy Pharaoh (women's fours).
Australia topped the inaugural para category with two gold medals (men's pairs and mixed vision-impaired pairs) and a bronze (women's pairs).
The Philippines' best performance in the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic was in 2014, winning the gold medal in the men's pairs (Chris Dagpin and Angelo Morales) and women's pairs (Sonia Bruce and Ainie Knight). In 2018, Morales and Robert Curte Guarin won the men's pairs silver medal while Bruce and Bradborn grabbed the bronze. (PNA)
