World champion Rafiq reaping the benefits of his love for bowling

PETALING JAYA: Rafiq Ismail’s (pic) journey to becoming a world bowling champion started at the tender age of four.

His parents – Ismail Nimat and Zaiton Abd Ghani – run a cafe business at a bowling centre in Ampang, so that explains why Rafiq was exposed to the sport at such an early age.

“I spent most of my time at the bowling alley when I was a kid because my family operate a cafe there. And it wasn’t too long before I fell in love with bowling,” recounted Rafiq, who clinched the singles gold at the world meet in Hong Kong on Saturday.

“But of course, at that time, I was too young even to lift a bowling ball. So what I did was I used bottles as the pins, arrange them and knock them down with a plastic ball.

“When I eventually play on the lanes, my brother, Redza (former Selangor state bowler), noticed I’m good at it and signed me up for coaching.

“He was also the one who suggested me to switch to left hand. It was a masterstroke! I’m a natural right-hander, but for bowling, I’m a southpaw,” added the fourth child from five siblings.

Rafiq steadily made his way up the ranks in the Selangor state junior level and became one of the top bowlers there.

His extraordinary talent was soon spotted by national head coach Holloway Cheah, who roped him into the Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) self-funded special squad in early 2011.

The formation of the Under-16 team was mooted by MTBC president Datuk Dr P.S. Nathan following the budget cut by the National Sports Council (NSC), which resulted in the dissolution of the back-up squad that year.

Within 12 months, Rafiq had earned his breakthrough by winning the Masters for his maiden senior title. Just 14 then, he defeated 40-year-old Kong Byoung-hee of South Korea for the win.

The world title won by Rafiq, where he beat 2014 winner Dan McLelland of Canada in the final, completed his gold medal collection in the official tournaments.