End of the Storm
Rafiq and Sin crash out of q-finals in S. Korea
PETALING JAYA: Bowlers Rafiq Ismail and Sin Li Jane’s gallant run in the Korea PBA Storm Cup has come to an end.
The Malaysian duo were ousted in the quarter-finals of the 100mil won (RM376,000) mixed-field tournament in Gyeonggi yesterday.
Rafiq failed to capitalise on his two-game advantage as he lost 2-3 (215-213, 232-213, 225-265, 225-243, 239-244) to homester Yoon Hee-yeo while Li Jane fell tamely 0-3 (209-239, 232-249, 204-223) to Park Sang-pil, also from South Korea.
Rafiq and Li Jane received 3.2mil won (RM12,000) each.
Despite the defeat, Rafiq and Li Jane did improve on the national team’s previous outing in the South Korean professional Tour at the Samho Cup in September.
Then, Li Jane and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman were Malaysia’s best performers by reaching the last 16.
“It could have been better but I have no complaints as finishing joint fifth out of 240 bowlers is still a very decent result,” said Li Jane, a winner of two European Bowling Tour and one US PWBA Tour titles.
“I really enjoyed the competition here. You always gain something when you take on the pros.”
Veteran Shalin Zulkifli and Timmy Tan only managed to reach the last 32.
Timmy went down fighting 1-2 (230-215, 211-217, 209-224) to South Korean Choi Wonyoung while Shalin was beaten 0-2 (223-263, 211-240) by Singaporean Bernice Lim. They earned 1.2mil won (RM4,500) each.
The Storm Cup is the national team’s last assignment of the year.