KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia missed out agonisingly on a fourth women's team gold at the World Championships for the second successive edition.
The team, who included Sin Li Jane, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, Esther Cheah, Nora Lyana Nastasia Norkamal and Gillian Lim fought hard but lost to South Korea with scores of 211-177, 169-207, 214-203 at the Kuwait Bowling Centre in Salmiya today.
Singles world champion Natasha Roslan was rested because of her thumb injury.
Malaysia had also finished as runners-up to the United States in Dubai two years earlier.
Malaysia had won the event three times, with previous victories in Kuala Lumpur in 2003, Monterrey in 2007, and Las Vegas in 2017.
Still, the team deserve credit. They fought valiantly to reach the final, securing a come-from-behind win (187-248, 255-182, 219-191) against arch-rivals Singapore.
However, Malaysia couldn't secure the bronze in the men's team event.
The team, consisting of Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan, Ahmad Muaz Fishol, Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek, Tun Hakim Tun Hasnul Azam and Syazirol Shamsuddin were eliminated in the second round.
They won only three out of their seven matches, finishing sixth in the eight-nation standings and missing out on the top four.
Malaysia concluded their World Championships campaign with a haul of four medals - one gold, two silver and one bronze.
This marked a significant improvement from their one silver and one bronze two years ago.
Li Jane added a silver in the women's singles while Muaz and Syafiq clinched a bronze in the men's doubles.