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Third gold for Malaysia in Asian Youth Championship

Rafiq and Qalif (right) took the third gold medal for Malaysian in the Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship in Macau.
Rafiq and Qalif (right) took the third gold medal for Malaysian in the Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship in Macau.


PETALING JAYA: It’s as good as it gets for Malaysia.

On Thursday, Malaysia struck gold again at the Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship in Macau for an unprecedented third straight day with  Rafiq Ismail and Qalif Adnor Adam claiming the boys’ doubles title.

On Tuesday, Rafiq won the boys’ singles title and Nora Lyana Nastasia Norakmal followed suit by capturing the girls’ singles crown on Wednesday. 

The 18-year-old Rafiq and Qalif amassed a record 2,814 total, beating the previous mark of 2,783 set by a Hong Kong pair in 2010.

Rafiq registered lines of 233-196-279-279-228-231 for a six-game total of 1,446 while Qalif contributed 1,368 pinfalls.

Muhammad Jaris Goh and Javier Tan of Singapore took the silver with 2,763 pinfalls while Filipino pair Ivan Malig-Enzo Hernandez amassed 2,690 for third spot.
Rafiq was surprised that they managed to set an Asian record.

“We were focused on winning the gold, the record is a bonus,” said Rafiq.

“It was not an easy win. We were second after two games and were trailing Japan by 41 pins. But we managed to score 524 pinfalls in the third to take over as leaders as the Japanese could only manage 372. After that, the pressure eased off and we managed to stay on course to win the gold,” he added.
Qalif was glad he managed to hit it off with Rafiq in their first partnership.

They were team-mates while representing Federal Territory at the 2012 Sukma, but were not paired together.

“Rafiq is a good bowler. He also believes in my abilities and we feed off each other,” said the 19-year-old Qalif.

“The win is definitely a great confidence booster ahead of the team event (on Saturday). I’m really hoping to strike another gold. I believe in our team.”

Malaysia’s gold No. 4 hunt continues with Nora partnering Natasha Roslan and Nur Shazwani Sahar combining with Nur Amirah Auni in the girls’ doubles. 


 by Ashreena Pillai - The Star

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