Bowling strikes again

Rafiq, Timmy and Muaz grab men’s trio silver in dramatic fashion

TRUST the bowlers to deliver again.

This time, the 2015 Singapore SEA Games winning combination of Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan and Ahmad Muaz Fishol made it a sizzling day for Malaysia when they clinched the men's trio silver medal at the Jakabaring Bowling Center in Palembang yesterday.

The trio saved their best for last when they stormed from fifth to second in the final games to amass a combined score of 4,235.

Thanks to the strong finish, Rafiq and teammates pipped Singapore’s Alex Chong, Darren Ong and Muhd Jaris Goh to the silver by just nine pins as Japanese trio Tomoyuki Sasaki, Shogo Wada and Shusaku Sato, ran away to defend the gold with 4,344 pinfalls.

Timmy was also in the men’s trio that finished runners-up – together with Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malik and Zulmazran Zulkifli – at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, four years ago.

Just a day ago, Esther Cheah, Syaidaful Afifah Badrul Hamidi and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman made it a glorious day by delivering the nation’s first gold by triumphing in the women’s trio.

Muaz was happy to nick his first Asiad medal. “Three of us make a good team. We won the SEA Games gold medal the last l time we joined foorces,” said Muaz. Timmy chipped in: “I’m really happy and proud to have retained the silver, albeit with different partners this time.

“We didn’t expect much because we were in the 10th spot after the first block, but we encouraged one another not to give up.

“Our strategy was simple in the second block – be patient on the tough lanes and go all out for strikes on the easier pair of lanes. It paid off!”

Rafiq said it was satisfying to come from no where to win the silver.

“We were playing next to Singaporeans and Koreans. They thought they were fighting among themselves but we spoilt their party,” said Rafiq.

“It wasn’t until the eighth frame (in the last game) that we realised our medal chance.

“We thought winning bronze would have been a bonus but we kept the strikes coming and went all the way to finish second. It’s just awesome.”

Another Malaysian team comprising Alex Liew, Adrian Ang and Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek failed to build on their lead in the opening games and finished ninth on 4,147.