Nine retired veterans and one current member of the city’s senior squad will make up Hong Kong’s male and female bowling teams at the forthcoming 15th National Games, where for the first time the sport will be a mass participation event.

Co-organized by Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the Guangdong province, the National Games will stage its bowling competition from Aug 22 to 24 at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park.

The athletes earned their place by outperforming rivals during open trials held in April, standing out from a competitive arena comprising 77 men’s teams and 18 women’s teams, all vying in teams of five, as revealed on Monday at a media reception.

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The sole active bowling athlete is Daniel Tse Lok-sang, who is a member of the HKSAR’s senior squad, while the other nine members are retired players.

Bowling’s debut at the national multisport meet, as one of the 23 mass participation events, marks a pivotal opportunity for local athletes to showcase their skills to domestic and international audiences, noted Vivien Lau Chiang-chu, chairwoman of the Hong Kong, China Tenpin Bowling Congress.

She framed the inclusion as generating strong momentum, essential not only for bowling’s public recognition but for elevating the sport to a competition event in future editions of the National Games.

“Because we have a new 40-lane bowling center, with high-tech, world-class equipment, they chose Hong Kong to be the venue of the finals,” said Lau.

Lau was nodding to the Top Bowl Tenpin Bowling alley at Kai Tak Sports Park — a venue she said was “all ready” to host bowlers from the two SARs and 10 other provincial units from the Chinese mainland seeded in the qualification rounds, including Guangdong’s team.

“We’ve assembled a strong team, and our sights are set on the podium,” said Lau. However, she acknowledged the challenge posed by facing unfamiliar provincial-level teams, contrasting it with the World or Asian Championships, where Hong Kong bowlers are well-versed about their competitors such as those from Singapore, Malaysia, and the national squads.

In the National Games, the outcome will hinge more on delivering a good performance in the moment, said Lau.

Rickle Kam Siu-lun was a member of Hong Kong’s junior men’s team in 2009, and a 2008-09 recipient of Hong Kong’s elite training grant. Speaking to the media on Monday, Kam highlighted a shared challenge for re-representing Hong Kong after retirement, such as achieving a balance between training and normal life.

However, the veteran bowler described the chance to take part as having a “different thrill”. “Though we’ve all been retired for years — some, like me, for seven or eight (years) — this rekindled our competitive passion. Representing Hong Kong not as a full-time athlete holds a different thrill. Less pressure, more pure focus on each shot.”

Chloe Lee Wing-yan, a member of the Hong Kong women’s team, made evident a driving ambition, describing the Games as “a rare second chance after our professional careers… our last shot at the podium”.

Both Kam and Lee appealed for home-crowd support, judging public rallying online to show support for their training and competition as a true reflection of “the spirit of a mass participation event” where “everyone has their role to play” to lift players’ performance in the competition.

The three-day bowling contest will feature an array of competition formats aimed at best testing bowlers’ varied skills. Action opens on day one with the singles showdowns, where individual bowlers contest six frames, with gold awarded to the highest cumulative pinfall.

Day two will see a series of Baker doubles, a strategic test requiring seamless teamwork as two bowlers as a pair alternate shots across high-stakes 12-frame games.

The final day will culminate with team battles, where five-member squads rotate through a demanding 18-frame format.

Top Bowl will close its doors to the public starting Aug 18 for final event preparations.

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Nonetheless, Lau hinted at challenges in audience capacity.

During the 2025 IBF World Cup Bowling Championship held at Top Bowl in January, there were two rows of benches with 100 seats each, but for the National Games, some sections of the venue will be occupied and would hardly accommodate double rows, explained Lau.

Lau said around 120 seats will be released daily, and latecomers may have to queue for standing room without a guaranteed seat, propelling early arrivals.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com