Rafiq still fighting on two fronts
AFTER failing to reach the stepladder final of the PBA World Championship on Tuesday, Rafiq Ismail has shifted his focus to the match play round of the PBA Cheetah Championship and the Rest of the World against the United States match.
Only the top five bowlers from a field of 49 will qualify for the finals on Sunday after a 20-game roll off over two blocks.
Rafiq, placed 15th on Monday, dropped down to 24th on a grand total of 13,555 pinfalls after 60 games, including the four events (PBA Chameleon Championship, Cheetah Championship, Shark Championship and the Scorpion Championship) on the World Series of Bowling which led up to the PBA World Championship.
The 20-year-old Malaysian southpaw, when contacted in Reno, Nevada, said: “I must admit, it was not my best 20 games, but it’s done and there is nothing I can do about it.
“Having said that, I don’t want to dwell on it for too long, because I have made the cut for the PBA Cheetah Championship match play round, and ‘the Rest of the World vs Team USA match’. That’s something I am looking forward to.
“The match play round, however, will be different from the 10game roll off earlier, as each match is determined by the best of five games.”
Teammate Adrian Ang, who missed out by three pins to qualify for the PBA World Championship, on Wednesday, competed in the match play round of the PBA Chameleon Championship.
The PBA Tour is seen as a warm-up stint for the national men’s team and sole women representative Shalin Zulkifli, before the World Championships in Las Vegas on Nov 24-Dec 4. Fabian Peter