Hong Kong Bowls Classic 2025

With Canadian Outdoor's Lawn Bowls 2025 season finished and still a lot of great International Lawn Bowls Videos, I find this opportunity to analysis two great female bowlers. South Africa's Esme Kruger and Hong Kong's Dorothy Yu start their World Bowls Single finals with bowl per bowl point exchange.

But what is amazing is the quality of shots which often are shots which an inch less precision and the shot would not have been achieved. Lets look at the first end before evaluate the skills of the players.

Jack is thrown by Esme Kruger to about 27 meters as bowlers in the last afternoon sun in their faces bowl back to the Kowloon  Bowling Green Clubhouse. Esme's first bowl, a backhand to a 3o'clock of the  jack and falls back to  within inches of  the jack.

Dorothy's Forehand is a meter heavy arriving at 1 o'clock followed by Esme's 2nd bowl as a block on center line but also a meter short. From this point you have to see it to believe it. And at 27 meters.

Dorothy's 2nd bowl  forehand pass Esme's near toucher and rolls the jack back 12 to 14 inches (@ 11 o'clock) and coming to rest within 2 or 3 inches (@ 5 o'clock).  Esme, now switches to Forehand

(which now has her 1st bowl blocking her line  to the jack). But her light overweight allows a well played tap of her bowl back the 14 inches to within inches of the jack. (@ 1 o'clock). Now with both bowls within inches of the jack the marker checks and give the point to Esme.

One would think one or two great shot in an end is the maximum but not to be as Dorothy rolls a Forehand with a slight rub on Esme previous bowl and then draws to the jack and tap the jack 4 or 5 inches(Photos) behind her bowl. Again point change.  

as the marker gives Dorothy two points.  Now, one would think, "What a shot"and "What could be better." With each player still with their last bowl of the first end to play this is why the best go to finals. 

One must remember that now World Bowls allow only 30 seconds for the delivery of your bowls so Esme steps to the mat and doing a bit over weight backhand attempts to strike the two bowls or roll the jack back. 

Dorothy on her home club green and with last bowl to play, come to the head with her bowl in arm, quickly looks at the head and after a body movement of  suggestion "one or the other" heads back up the green to deliver. Any athletic who has done this trip with the time limit know how hard it is to go back to the mat and make a great shot. (relax, know your weight, etc) Dorothy does a forehand and draws tight to the jack expecting shot except her bowl is a bit heavy and passes the group of three bowls around the jack (@ 11 o'clock).

After Esme does a double finger measure and asks the tape from the marker, the officials arrive and they do a calibator then the tape measire before give the point to Dorothy.

This is only the first end of play and with the quality of play it seem I will have to watch the game and then study the players and their different skills. Amazing game. A must for Single coaching.