Saturday 20 October 2012

Bowls-Hong Kong

Bowls in Hong Kong is a popular sport. In fact Hong Kong is seen among one of the leading nations participating in the game together with England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia.


Bowls World sell a wide range of clothing, equipment and bowls to Hong Kong based players and to customers all over the world. Here, we shall including the history of bowls, Hong Kong, and how to buy from Bowls World.
Bowls Hong Kong - click here to browse our online shop.



History of Bowls Hong Kong
The game has been played in Hong Kong for well over a century. The history of bowls, Hong Kong, began when a group of Scotsman who lived in Kowloon formed the Kowloon Bowling Green Club in 1900. The very first club house was opened in 1905 by Hong Kong governor Sir Matthew Nathan.
Since then, bowls, Hong Kong, increased in popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, and the club (next to the Kowloon Cricket Club) had its own greens available year round. These were separate to the main playing field used for cricket and lawn tennis. In the Second World War the greens were used to grow vegetables, but these opened again at the end of 1946 and are still in use today.
The Hong Kong Lawn Bowls Association is an association of five divisions and 22 clubs. It was founded fifty years ago (March 1961) and a series of games and tournaments have been organised to commemorate its golden jubilee. In the 1970's bowls Hong Kong gained an influx of players, as many ex-pats settled here and popularity of the sport continued.
In fact, the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic, founded in 1981, is seen as one of the best outdoor bowls tournaments in the world. It attracts top players globally and includes a single and a pairs competition.
This tournament was originally a men's event held annually in winter but has included a women's competition since 2008. Hong Kong won the pairs title five times and Hong Kong's singles winners have included George Souza Junior and Noel Kennedy winning in 1984 and 1994.
Among the top male bowls Hong Kong singles are Ken Chan, Jerry Ng and Raymond Ho. The top three women's singles players are Winnie Wai, Mercredi Yeung and Joanna Nam (rankings relate to the three years between 2009 and 2011).
Bowls Tours Hong Kong
Bowls can be combined with travel for players living outside of Hong Kong. For those who want to try bowls in Hong Kong, there is a touring company which organises all inclusive bowls and sight-seeing tours around Hong Kong, China or Asia. The tours go to Hong Kong, China, Macau and other Asian destinations and are a good way to mix the sport with travelling and socialising. Whether you are a professional or are just thinking of taking up the sport, Bowls World sell a wide range of bowls clothing and equipment to customers in Hong Kong at competitive prices. See below to find out more about our range.

Bowls Hong Kong - click here to browse our online shop.



Bowls Clothing Hong Kong
The Hong Kong bowls dress code is clearly defined for matches, national and international competitions.
For matches players, must wear white or cream coloured shorts, dress, skirts and trousers. Dependant on the weather, players can also wear sun hats, sun protection clothing and bowls sweaters. Lawn bowls shoes must be worn at all times and are also available to buy from Bowls World.
For league games and national competitions, players are to wear matching team shirts and these can either be white or coloured and with long or short sleeves. Singles players must wear bowls club shirts or uniforms.
The dress code for international competitions requires Hong Kong bowls players to wear matching shirts, skirts or long trousers.


Bowls World sell a wide collection of bowls clothing for adults and juniors by makes Henselite, Taylor and Drakes Pride. Our range includes men's and ladies' outdoor bowls clothing, bowls headwear - including sun hats, caps, visors and rain hats - water proof bowls clothing and jackets.
We also sell bowls trousers, shirts, tops, T-shirts, blouses, jumpers, fleeces, gillets, gloves and bowls shoes for men and women.

Bowls Hong Kong - Equipment Sold By Bowls World
Bowls World sell a wide selection of bowls equipment and accessories including flat green and crown green bowls and all our bowls equipment and clothing is available to buy in Hong Kong.
As well as a wide range of outdoor bowls equipment, we also sell indoor bowls equipment for short mat and carpet bowls including 30 ft and 40 ft carpets. In addition we sell bowls club equipment and coaching aids and accessories such as grip waxes, spray chalk, chalk holders, measures and scorecard holders. We also have a selection of gift vouchers and books for sale to customers in Hong Kong.

All our overseas orders are sent by UPS, which are three to four days trackable.
Shipping costs are added to your order automatically once you enter your address online. This means that you can see your exact total of your order before you submit it to Bowls World.
To make buying simple for Hong Kong residents, you can use our currency converter to find out how much your order will be in Hong Kong Dollars.



Bowls Hong Kong - click here to buy online.



Bowls -Australia

Bowls Australia, is a fiercely competitive sport and in fact more than half of the world's players come from Down Under. In fact four Australian nationals are ranked among the top 16 male singles players in the world including the world's two best players, Leif Selby and Brett Wilkie (rankings compiled November 2011).

Among the top female world players are Karen Murphy (ranked fourth), the new 2012 women's indoor singles champion Kelsey Cottrell (ranked eighth) and Joyce Lindores (ranked 16th).
Lawn bowls Australia, has players aged between 9 to 90 years and one of the beauties of the sport is that it attracts people of all abilities, including blind players. Here is a history of bowls Australia, and how Australian bowlers can save money by buying from Bowls World.
Bowls Australia - click here to buy online.

Bowls Australia - History of the Game
The history of bowls Australia, is an interesting one. The first ever bowling club in Australia was in Melbourne and was founded on October 1, 1864, in nearby Windsor. The club was open to high society players such as politicians, businessmen and government officials who each paid a premium to play. At about the same time rules came to be written down so players could agree on how the game should be played.
The first grand bowling tournament happened in 1873. It was hosted by Melbourne and included a tournament between six cities. The gentlemen finished the day by drinking a toast to the Queen.
By 1880 the first bowling associations were formed in Australia. These were the New South Wales and the Victorian Associations and were the first of their kind in the world.
Lawn bowling became a mass sport after the World War One when it was opened up to the working classes and female players for the first time.
In the 1930 the first plastic bowls was invented by R W Hensell which revolutionised the game and meant balls became more standardised in weight and shape than rubber or wooden bowls. This meant the ball could keep its shape under many different climatic conditions and in the long-run led to cheaper bowls.
The game became increasingly popular after the Second World War and reached its peak in the 1960's with more than half a million Australian players. People had to wait a couple of years to join a club because they were so exclusive.

Bowls Australia - Future Plans
Exciting plans are afoot to revolutionise lawn bowls in Australia. There will be the creation of the Australian premier league in October 2012 which will take the game to a whole new level and change the way the game is played and perceived.
The plans are to take the best elements of the game and make it high impact, fast paced and highly competitive. Big prize money, thought to be around $100,000 dollars, will be up for grabs and the game will attract greater publicity and sponsorship.
Martin Curtis, of Bowls World, said: "I think this spells fantastic news for the sport in Australia and will make great viewing for people with Sky Sports who can watch the game in the UK.
"It is not expected to change how the game is played in the UK as we will still follow the rules laid down by the World Bowls World and subsequently Bowls England. However, it will bring the game more publicity on this side of the globe and that can only be good for the sport in general."

Bowls Australia - Differences in the Game
On the amateur side of the sport there are no differences in bowls Australia compared to the English game as they are all governed by the same body, World Bowls Limited. However, playing conditions do differ.
Australian greens tend to be very fast compared to their UK counterparts. In Australia they prefer a straighter running bowl to combat the very wide drawing greens, as the faster the green the wider the draw will be.
As a result the tactics of bowls Australia may differ to that of the UK in that the 'drive' or 'up' shot is used more often and to great effect. It will be used to break up a head of bowls where the player feels there is no chance of drawing shot. This can sometimes be used very early on in the end and sometimes as early as the second bowl. This technique is referred to as the 'draw and drive' game, rarely seen in the UK, as in the UK it is possible to bowl consistently to within inches of the jack.
The very quick and wide drawing greens in Australia can make this pretty much impossible with a two foot away bowl becoming a winning bowl. With the greens so fast, bowls in Australia can be affected by strong side winds, but this is more usual in New Zealand.
Many of the bowls greens in Australia are not grass as we know it, but are played on 'Cotula weed' which is cut to its bare roots for play. This is very resilient to dry weather and grows very easily and rapidly, so much so the Agriculture and Fisheries Commission have banned it from being brought into the UK as they think it could become rampant here.

Bowls Clothing Australia
The Australian bowls dress code is much more relaxed than in the UK. The main difference is that shorts are worn instead of trousers. These are worn with long white socks. The ladies wear sports trousers, like track suit bottoms. There is much more colour in the clothing to distinguish between teams.
Mr Curtis said: "Lawn Bowls in Australia seem to receive much better publicity and TV coverage than in the UK. There doesn't seem to be the stigmas attached to the game like there is over here of being an old man's game. "When I played as a 13 year old in the 70's I was afraid to mention it to my mates at school for fear of Mickey taking. I understand from today's youngsters in this country it is pretty much still the same."

Bowls World sell a wide range of bowls clothing including ladies' clothing, men's clothing, junior bowls clothing, outdoor bowls clothing, water proof bowls clothing, bowls tops, bowls trousers, shorts, T-shirts, jumpers, fleeces, gilets, shirts, jackets, gloves, bowls headwear, sunhats, rain hats, caps, visors, and bowls shoes for men and women. It also includes clothing by Taylor, Drakes Pride and the Australian make Henselite.

Bowls Australia - Equipment Sold By Bowls World
Bowls World sell a wide range of bowls equipment and accessories such as flat green and crown green bowls from leading manufacturers Taylor, Drakes Pride and Henselite. We also sell a variety of gift vouchers and books, bowls club equipment and coaching aids and bowls accessories such as measures, grip waxes, chalk holders, spray chalk and scorecard holders.

In addition to this we also sell indoor bowls equipment for short mat and carpet bowls, including 30ft and 45ft carpets.
All our bowls equipment and clothing is available to buy in Australia. Overseas orders are sent by UPS (three to four days trackable)  Shipping costs will automatically be added to your order. Once you give your address you can see the exact total of your order before submitting it online.

How Australian Customers Can Benefit from Bowls World
Bowls World sell mainly bowls to Australia and our overseas sales account for 40% of our business which is growing each year. Australia is our biggest overseas market with over 250 bowls sets shipped last year. Each set costs £69.99GBP to ship, but of course Australian bowls customers do not have to pay the VAT.
The bowls are very expensive in Australia, which means an Australian customer can buy a set in the UK and have them shipped to Australia, and still save over $100 AUD. By getting together with other bowls members and having four sets shipped at the same time, this will reduce the shipping costs to £40.00 GBP a set, so it's easy to see the massive savings to be made. The most popular model by far that Bowls World ship to Australia is the Taylor Vector VS, with its narrow bias suited to very fast greens. It performs very well on the Australian playing conditions. To make buying as easy as possible, you can use our currency converter to calculate how much your order is going to cost in Australian Dollars.



Bowls Australia - click here to buy online.