National men's bowling doubles sweep gold, silver

Malaysia captured the gold and silver medals in the men's doubles bowling competition at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

Alex Liew Kien Liang and Muhamad Syafiq Ridhwan Abdul Malek amassed 2,647 pins to take the top spot while Adrian Ang Hsien Loong and Muhammad Rafiq Ismail came out second with 2,630 pins.

The closely contested event saw Billy Muhammad Islam and Hardy Rachmadian of Indonesia bagging the bronze medal with 2,615 pins at Sunway Mega Lane, here.

Senior player, Alex Liew, 41, when met after the prize presentation ceremony said he did not expect to win as it was a grueling three-hour contest.

"I did a lot of ball changes.. Switching from one ball to another and for the rest we just do the best until the last game," he said and admitted he was shocked at the win as he had a slow start

Meanwhile, Muhamad Syafiq who did not shine in the men's individual event yesterday said he was more comfortable playing in a team.

"Thanks to Alex for delivering all out and we pushed each other in all the games and hope the same spirit will prevail in the trio and team events," said the 31-year-old kegler who was making his debut home appearance.

For Adrian, it was an excellent start to his first outing partnering Muhammad Rafiq and the silver medal was worth the effort.Meanwhile, Muhammad Rafiq is not choosy of his teammates as the bowling squad is like a family to him. -- BERNAMA