Bowls

Section members joined by guests, all geared up for a fresh start to the year.

SCC BOWLS SECTION OPENING CARNIVAL

The new Bowls green made of synthetic grass was ready for play in mid-January 2020. We had a soft launch for Members to try it out. After a month of seasoning the green with social bowls, we decided to have an “official opening” of the new green. We organized an Opening Carnival on 29th February 2020 and we invited various guests related to SCC and Bowls Singapore, as well as CEO of Sports Singapore, Mr. Lim Teck Yin, to grace the occasion. Mr. Lim kindly accepted our invite, and encouraged us to take the sport to the next level. Mr. Lim and our Club President Mr. Sher Baljit Singh officially opened the green in a simple ribboncutting ceremony.

The guests had an introduction to the game and a roll out. Thereafter, we had a friendly competition among the bowlers

The new green was officially opened by Club President Sher Baljit Singh and Sports SG CEO Lim Teck Yin..

Mary Lim first started bowling in 1988, after being introduced to the sport by her husband, former High Court Judge TQ Lim, who was an active bowler at the Club. Her interest was further kindled when her friend sent her video tapes on lawn bowls. “It allowed me to be an armchair player as I could learn the game and everything about it through the videos,” said Mary.

present, followed by makan kechil at the deli verandah. It was a great start to a new chapter of bowls at SCC.

FROM ARMCHAIR PLAYER TO GOLD MEDALIST

She added, “By the time I actually went down to try the game, I had a very good idea of the whole game, the principles, and to appreciate the skills involved.” She was such a good learner that within a year, she leapt from being an SCC bowls player to being a National bowls player. Mary’s first overseas bowls outing was in 1989 when she represented Singapore in the Asia-Pacific Bowls Championships in Hong Kong. The most impressive achievement for her was when she and fellow SCC bowler Rosemary Tessensohn won the gold medal in the inaugural Asian Lawn Bowls Championships which was held in Hong Kong in 2001. “We were the golden girls. That made an impact,” enthused Mary.

Another impressive achievement was her National outing to the SEA Games in Brunei in 1999 when she won a silver medal in the Women’s Pairs with another fellow SCC bowler, Yong Lew Foong. “It was memorable because I had injured my leg then and I was bowling in crutches. It was quite dramatic. We just lost in the last end to Malaysia. It was very tense.” her the full support to promote the game during Co-Curricular Activity time for the students. There was a good following during the three to four years that she continued to lecture there. A group of the youngsters subsequently joined SCC under the JSM programme and excelled in the game under her mentorship. Mary explained that the value of the game for her is that it helps her to focus and be patient. “If anything, what I get out of playing bowls even today is the sense of competition that I still enjoy. In addition, after all the years of playing bowls at SCC, I will never forget the people, the friendships and the camaraderie that we have.”

Needless to say, Mary has won numerous medals playing bowls at SCC and National levels. She is still passionate about the sport and is ever-ready to help newcomers learn to play bowls. She is the Section’s nominee for the Spirit of Sports for Bowls this year.