Sacrifice Pays Off Big Time For Bowling Duo

PALEMBANG, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- The sacrifice of not celebrating Eid-ul Fitr and Eid-ul Adha together with family and friends has paid off big time for Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, as they won the country's first gold medal at the Asian Games together with Esther Cheah in the women's trio event at the Jakabaring Bowling Center here. "The Raya Haji (Eid-ul adha) is the second festive celebration in a row we have been away from our family in Malaysia as for the first raya (Eid-ul Fitr in June) we were in the US (for the US Open Championships). However, our sacrifice has been very worthwhile," said 26-year-old Syaidatul Afifah during a press conference after the medal presentation ceremony. Meanwhile, Siti Safiyah Amirah, 27, dedicated the victory to her father, Abdul Rahman Mohd Shariff, who will be celebrating his 61st birthday this Friday. "He is very happy with this gold medal. He said this is like a special birthday gift (for him)," he said. The trio ended a 24-year-old gold drought in the event after recording 4,326 pinfalls, far above Chinese Taipei's trio Pan Yu Fen, Chou Chia Chen and Tsai Hsin Yi (4,255 pinfalls) and Singapore's Yeo Ruo Qi Joey, Tan Daphne Shi Jing, Lim Bernice Hui Ying (4,250) who won the silver and bronze medals respectively. Another national trio comprising Sin Li Jane, Natasha Mohamed Roslan and Shalin Zulkifli finished fourth after registering 4,144 pinfalls. The only other time Malaysia had won the female trio event at the Asian Games was in the 1994 edition in Hiroshima, Japan. -- BERNAMA