Bowler Rafiq a contender for Rookie of the Year award

PETALING JAYA: The sky’s the limit for southpaw bowler Rafiq Ismail.

After winning the men’s Masters gold at the Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia, the 21-yearold bowler has put himself as one of the top three contenders for the 2018 Harry Golden Professional Bowlers’ Association (PBA) Rookie of the Year award.

The other bowlers in contention for the award are Thailand’s Annop Arromsaranon and United States’ Kamron Doyle.

The nomination was announced by the PBA on their website on Thursday and the winner will be announced on Nov 20.

Rafiq cashed in on three of the four PBA Tour events he competed in and led all the contenders with a 220.84 average.

“I’m honoured to be part of the list. The nomination will surely boost my confidence and my aim is to ensure that Malaysia get a medal in the world championships,” said Rafiq after his training session at Sunway Mega Lanes in Subang Jaya yesterday.

Rafiq is getting ready for the men’s World Championships in Hong Kong from Nov 23-Dec 5.

Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) secretary-general Maradona Chok rated the Kuala Lumpur boy as one of the most feared bowlers in Asia and expected him to be better in the years to come.

“Rafiq is one of the world’s best and we’re expecting him to deliver in the worlds. Our aim is to get a medal in the team event and we believe he has what it takes to win a medal in the singles event,” he said.