It's third gold for Malaysia, thanks to bowling star Rafiq

JAKARTA: Hats off to Master Rafiq Ismail!

A pumped-up Rafiq rolled down the men’s Masters gold to deliver the Malaysian contingent its third gold at the Indonesian Asian Games on Monday.

The 21-year-old put up a solid show and kept his cool by defeating defending champion Park Jong-woo of South Korea 534-511 (245-266, 289-235) in a two-game final at Jakabaring Bowling Center in Palembang.

The sensational win made Rafiq the first Malaysian winner in the men's Masters event.

With the gold, the national bowling team ended their campaign on a high note with two golds and two silvers.

The other gold was won by Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman and Esther Cheah in the women’s trio, which was Malaysia's first gold.

The second Asian Games gold was delivered by squash queen Nicol David in the women's singles.