THE strong bond of friendship and brotherhood shone brightly as Malaysia recaptured the men’s tenpin bowling gold in style at the Philippines Sea Games yesterday.
The national quartet of Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan, Ahmad Muaz Fishol and Tun Hakim Luqman held steady for a combined score of 4,980 to secure gold in the event at Starmall Edsa in Manila.
The Philippines were second on 4,937 while Thailand were third on 4,896.
Rafiq was effusive in his praise of his teammates after their victory.
“There have been quite a few ups and downs over the past few days, but the effort we put in today (yesterday) has definitely been worth it,” said Rafiq.
“I want to thank Muaz, Hakim and Timmy... although there were times we were down, they never gave up and fought hard right until the final frame.
“The last time we won this was in 2015, so to win it again is a good achievement. We will sleep well tonight.”
Muaz hailed their strong team spirit for helping to pull them through.
“Yes, we are like brothers. We go everywhere together, eat together and share our personal problems together,” said Muaz.
Meanwhile, Shalin Zulkifli, Sin Li Jane, Esther Cheah and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman had to settle for silver in the women’s team event with a combined score of 4,803.
Singapore took gold on 4,833 while the Philippines clinched bronze on 4,735.