IT would be a dream come true if the national bowlers can dethrone South Korea and win the overall title at the Asian Championships in Kuwait.
Korea are considered the giants in world bowling and it would be a sign of progress if the Malaysians can turn the tables on their fancied opponents.
Holloway Cheah’s side are going great guns with four gold and three bronze medals compared to Korea’s 1-2-3 with three more events (team, all-events and masters) remaining.
On Saturday, Malaysia achieved a sweet double in the trios.
Rafiq Ismail, Ahmad Muaz Fishol and Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek won the men’s trios with 4,290 pinfalls while Shalin Zulkifli, Esther Cheah and Sin Li Jane topped the women’s event on 4,354.
But Rafiq-Syafiq-Muaz were kept on the edge of their seats by Kuwait’s Khaled Aldubyyan-Jasem Alsaqer-Mostafa Almousawi, who were hot on their heels right until the end.
The home trio, however, crumbled under pressure as they returned with 4,280 pinfalls to finish second while Malaysia’s second trio of Timmy Tan, Tun Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam and Hafiz Zainuddin took the bronze with 4,246.
“It feels like a dream to win the trios gold. The Kuwaiti trio had the momentum and needed just 655 in the last game, which wasn’t hard at all,” said Rafiq.
“But, I guess, they got a lane that was tough and felt the pressure.
“In the end, they needed to strike to win but they just couldn’t do it. It was such a tense finish but I think we all had a good night’s sleep.”
Teammate Muaz added: “I can’t believe we won it. Kuwait were leading right into the last game and their last bowler just needed a strike.
“I’m proud of our achievement and I really want to thank those who have supported us so far.”
Meanwhile, Shalin, who has now bagged two titles (including the women’s singles gold), is rallying her teammates on to snare the team gold as well.
“I’m grateful for the win in the trios. Esther and Li Jane helped me out a lot on the first day of trios action, so I was determined to return the favour during the second block,” said Shalin.
“I think we were very solid throughout the six games and it’s really great to take the win. Now we need to keep it going and get the gold in the team event.”
In the all-events, Timmy is leading the men’s field on 4,388 after 18 games, with six more to play in the team event while Shalin is second in the women’s category on 4,388.
The first block of the men and women’s team events were completed late yesterday.