Lawn bowls, petanque teams predict gold rush

The Philippines’ teams for the Southeast Asian Games’ Lawn Bowls and Petanque competitions are confident they will pull off a harvest of 12 golds in the coming biennial meet.

Team skipper Ronalyn Greenlees said they are confident the RP squads have a good chance at the gold in all the competitions they will be seeing action despite the presence of top rivals Malaysia and Brunei.

"We have been doing well in the past two years, bringing home golds and silvers in various Asian tournaments," Greenlees pointed out. "We have been improving our technique with constant practice so now our morale is very high."

Lawn Bowls is a sport that traces its roots in 13th century Scotland. It is played by two opposing teams, each trying to roll their "bowls" as close as possible to a smaller ball or "jack" over a grass surface. Petanque, on the other hand, is a French version of the game with smaller metal balls and played over gravel. Both were brought to the Southeast Asian region through colonization and, more recently, because of the presence of European and Australian expatriates in the Philippines.

The RP teams will also enjoy home court advantage because they have been practicing at the Hidden Vale Sports Club in Hensonville, Angeles City, the venues for the two events slated from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5.

Just off the Clark Economic Zone, Hidden Vale Sports Club is the only major Lawn Bowls and Petanque facility in the country and has even added to its facilities to meet international competition standards.