Rafiq Ismail - PBA
PETALING JAYA: Rafiq Ismail missed out on another chance to roll down his first-ever Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) title.
Rafiq was on the verge of ending the long wait when he stormed into the stepladder finals of the Scorpion Championship as the top seed but lost 172-224 to Rasmus Edvall of Sweden at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada, on Sunday.
He had earlier beaten Edvall in the quarter-finals 3-0 (228-176, 251-164 and 259-183) to get into the top-four stepladder finals as the top seed.
Before the last eight battle, he had knocked out Shawn Maldonado of the United States 3-2 (201-221, 202-235, 199-172, 190-138, 248-242) in the last last 16.
Edvall came through the losers pool for the match-up against Rafiq.
Rafiq will now shift his attention to the World Championship on Thursday at the same venue as he has qualified as one of the top 50 bowlers.
