Lawn bowlers vow to deliver

MANILA, Philippines — Unlike some of the high-profile sports, little known lawn bowls did produce for Team Philippines in the last SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur not just one gold but also three silvers and two bronze medals.

With the country hosting the 30th staging of the biennial meet starting Nov. 30 at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, the national lawn bowlers vow to buck the odds, confident of surpassing their previous haul and helping deliver the goods in the Philippines’ drive for the overall championship.

“I am very positive that we’ll produce better results than what we did in the last SEAG,” said Ronalyn Greenlees, who with Rosita Bradborn and Hazel Jagonoy took the silver in women’s triples two years ago.

This despite the fact that the team had lost its so-called “home-court advantage” as the lawn bowls venue was changed twice before the Clark Development Corp. came to the Philippine Lawn Bowls Association’s rescue by providing the site near the Clark Friendship gate.

“We’re really at a disadvantage. We can’t practice the way we wanted to because there was no venue,” said Greenlees, citing Clark Global’s decision to pull out as venue last June and the Malabon Property Landholdings, Inc.’s alledged demand of charging the organizers P11.3 million for a six-day use of the venue.