PH lawn bowlers win 3 medals in China

FILE: SECOND OVERALL. The members of the women’s team which placed second in the 13th Asian Championships in China last week. From left are Ronalyn Greenlees, Ainie Knight, Rosita Bradborn, Hazel Jagonoy, Asuncion Bruce and Maria Reta Guinto. (Contributed photo, via PNA)

MANILA — The national lawn bowlers have returned to the country with the three medals they won in the 13th Asian Championships in Xinxiang, China last week.

Rosita Bradborn and Asuncion Bruce captured the women’s pairs silver medal in the prestigious tournament which was participated by top-level athletes from Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and host China.

Bradborn and Bruce also won the women’s fours team bronze medal with Hazel Jagonoy and Ronalyn Greenlees, while Ainie Knight pocketed the women’s singles bronze medal.

The Philippines finished second overall in the women’s division with 27 points, behind Malaysia, which garnered 34 points after winning two golds (pairs and fours) and two bronzes (singles and triples). Singapore placed third with 25 points for winning the one gold (singles) and one bronze (triples).

Greenlees, who also served as coach, was happy that the team was able to bring home three medals.

In an interview on Tuesday, Greenlees said: “Overall, we performed well, considering that the Philippines is the only country that has no artificial bowling green. We practice on real grass which has a speed of 10 seconds. This is slow, compared to the faster green (17-18 seconds) in China.”

The speed on a bowling green is determined by the number of seconds for a bowl to roll from where it is delivered to where it comes to a rest.

Meanwhile, Greenlees has revealed that the Philippines will compete in the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic Carnival slated on November 8-18.

Greenlees will act as coach and manager of the team composed of Bradborn, Bruce, Robert Guarin and Angelo Morales.

The national lawn bowlers have began their preparation for the 2019 SEA Games as early as March this year.

The team of Hommer Mercado, Paul Kitchen and Errol Johnson bagged the gold medal while the women’s team of Bradborn, Jagonoy, Marisa Baronda and Sharon Hauters pocketed the bronze medal at the 21st Tiger Bowls World Invitational tournament, which was held on March 10-11 in Hong Kong.

The same women’s team clinched the silver medal in the Belt and Road China Lawn Bowls Open in Shenzhen and Zhuhai on March 16.

Last month, Greenlees and Mercado won the silver medal in the mixed pair event at the Asian Lawn Bowls Championships in Terengganu, Malaysia.

“We want to improve our skills and the best way to do that is by continuously training and competing abroad. Our goal is to win more medals in the SEA Games next year,” said Greenlees, a quarterfinalist in the 2008 World Outdoor Bowls Championships at Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2016, she won the bronze medal in the same tournament with Bradborn, Jagonoy and Bruce in the fours event.

The Philippines won one gold, three silvers and two bronzes in the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The medalists were Guarin, Emmanuel Portacio and Leoncio Carreon Jr. (men’s fours, gold); Baronda, Nancy Toyco and Nenita Tabiano (women’s fours, silver); Greenlees, Jagonoy and Bradborn (women’s triples, silver); Marcelito Pancho and Morales (men’s pairs, silver); Bruce and Knight (women’s pairs, bronze); and Elmer Abatayo (men’s singles, bronze).