Jakabaring in Palembang delivered Malaysia a gold and a silver medal in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia on Wednesday.
The gold was won by the women’s trio of Esther Cheah, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman and Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi in the women’s trios – Malaysia’s first gold medal in this year’s Asiad.
The trio struck gold at the Jakabaring Bowling Center amassed an 18-game total of 4,326 pinfalls – defeating Taiwan (4,255) and Singapore (4,250) into second and third place respectively.
Another Malaysian trio made up of Shalin Zulkifli, Sin Li Jan, and Natasha Roslan finished in fourth place with a 4,144 total.
The win by the women’s trio ended Malaysia’s gold drought in the games which got underway on Aug 18.
The Malaysian women also ended a 12-year wait in the sport, with the last success coming at the 2006 Asian Games held in Doha, Qatar.
The silver medal came in the men’s sepak takraw in the team regu with the Thais handing Malaysia a 2-0 defeat in the final at the Ranau Hall at the Jakabaring Sports City.
Malaysia’s first regu represented by Muhammad Zulkifli Razak (tekong), Norhaffizi Abdul Razaka (killer) and Mohd Syazreenaqma (feeder) went down 15-21, 15-21 to the Thai trio of Chaichana Anuwat, Jantarit Khukaeo, and Assadin Wongyota.
The Thais took the second and winning point through Yupadee Pattarapong, Siriwat Sakha, and Pornchai Kaokaew with a 21-19, 21-13 win over Syahir Mohd Rosdi (tekong), Farhan Adam (feeder) and Azlan Alias (killer).
The silver is an improvement over the bronze medal won at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. RIZAL ABDULLAH
