Rafiq hopes to win next best prestigious event
IT will be as good as winning the Olympics!
That’s the motivation Rafiq Ismail will bring into today’s final bowling competition day as he makes one last push to win his maiden Asian Games gold medal in the men’s Masters.
The 21-year-old Rafiq made a decent start in the first block of eight games yesterday by staying within the top-three cut for the stepladder final with a total 1,889 pinfalls to finish in sixth spot at the Jakabaring Bowling Center in Palembang yesterday.
He is just 45 pins behind the leaders in the 16-man contest.
Rafiq’s won six matchplays against Enzo Fernandes (Phi); Ivan Tse (Hkg); Koo Seong-hoi (Kor); Takayu Miyazawa, Shusaku Asato (Jpn); and compatriot Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul ul Malek to earn 60 bonus pins.
Defending champion Park Jongwoo of South Korea set the pace at the halfway stage by firing a 2,031 total wwhile Taiwan’s Hung Kun-ki came in second with 1,936 and Seong-hoi took the third spot with 1,934.
Syafiq has a mountain to climb as he is placed 12th on 11,776.
RRafiq aims to stamp his mark in his pet event, having captured the Masters title at the last Asian Championships in Hong Kong in 2016.
“Bowling is not in the Olympics. Asian Games is next best prestigious event for bowling. It’s held every four years too,” said Rafiq, who won a trio silver two days ago.
“So, winning a gold at Asiad will make me feel like an Olympic champion.
“I bowled well except shooting one 169 in the second game (against Jongwoo).
“But I’m just 45 pins away. There’s a chance to sneak into the stepladders.”
In the women’s division, Natasha Roslan and Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi will need to produce something special if they hope to qualify for the medal playoffs.
Natasha amassed 1,811 pinfalls for 12th place and Syaidatul posted 1,797 for a 13th spot.
Japan’s Mirai Ishimoto won seven out of her eight matches en route to topping the first block with a 1,966 total, just 20 pins ahead of South Korea’s Lee Yeon-ji. Singapore’s Joey Yeo was third on 1,941.