21st August, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian pairs of Alex Liew-Syafiq Ridhwan and Adrian Ang-Rafiq Ismail completed another one-two finish to capture the Men's Doubles gold and silver medals at the 29th SEA Games Tenpin Bowling CHampionships.

Singapore's Timothy Tham and Basil Dill Ng set the early pace with a superb 493 to lead the second Malaysian pair of Ang and Rafiq by 27 pins. Malaysia managed to close tha gap to just 14 pins after a stronger second game.

Out of the blue, the first Malaysian pair of Alex Liew and Syafiq Ridhwan leapfrog into the lead after the third game, thanks to a big game of 279 from Syafiq. Indonesia's Billy Muhammad Islam and Hardy Rachmadian took over second spot, just one pin adrift.

The lead changed hands again after the fourth game. Singapore's second pair of Muhhammad Jaris Goh and Keith Saw moved into the lead, 15 pins ahead of Liew and Syafiq while the other Malaysian pair and the Indonesian pair stayed close.

Liew downed a splendid 255, enough to cover his partner, Syafiq who only managed 183. But their final game of 438 was enough to seal victory and capture the gold medal with 2647. Ang and Rafiq managed only 420 to finish second with 2630 for a Malaysia one-two.

Islam and Rachmadian took third spot to earn their second bronze medal with 2615 while Singapore failed to recover and missed the podium by 12 pins with 2603.

"This is my sixth SEA Games appearance and I'm glad I can still contribute by winning the gold medal," said the 41-year-old oldest member of the national team. "Adrian and Rafiq is a much stronger pair but we managed to hang on to a slender lead to win the gold.

"It doesn't really matter a lot who wins the gold so long as we made sure that the gold and silver belongs to Malaysia," said 29-year-old Syafiq in his fourth SEA Games outing. "We must continue to work hard and keep the winning streak going."