KUALA LUMPUR: Sin Li Jane and Rafiq Ismail produced a masterclass to conclude Malaysia's campaign in the Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships (ATBC) in the best possible fashion in Bangkok today.
Li Jane was the first to win the nation's seventh gold in the women's Masters before Rafiq made it eight shortly after in the men's division.
With the two additional titles, Malaysia, already crowned as the kings of Asian bowling for only the second time in the championships, ended with an unprecedented 17-medal haul of eight gold, five silver and four bronze.
Li Jane defeated arch-rival Jung Da Wun of South Korea 473-441 (246-243, 227-198) in the two-game final
Li Jane had earlier made the top three cut for the stepladder finals in first place after rolling a 16-game total of 3,645
Malaysia's Natasha Roslan and Da Wun finished second (3600) and third (3591) respectively in the 16-woman leaderboard.
Natasha's hopes of making it an all-Malaysian final were dashed when she was beaten 248-176 by Da Wun, the 2012 champion, in the one-game decider.
It was Li Jane third gold in the tournament, having won the women's doubles with Natasha and the All-Events, making it her best ever outing in the ATBC.
Li Jane, who conquered the PWBA Tour season with four titles en route to be crowned the Player of the Year, was thrilled to bits.
"I don't think I have ever won gold in Masters before in other major events. I'm so happy to overcome my fierce rival, Da Wun this time, as in 2017 she pipped me to the Masters gold at the World Championships! After so many years, I finally earned my revenge," said Li Jane.
"This year really treated me very well. From a fine PWBA Tour season to now my best achievement in the ATBC, I couldn't have asked for more.
"The confidence is growing and I think playing without pressure really helped."
It was Rafiq's turn to take the centrestage when he defended his Masters crown, winning it for the third time.
Rafiq proved just why he is the Asia No. 1 when he came from the opening game loss, 211-188, to beat South Korea's Park Dong Hyuk 466-435.
In the second game, Rafiq struck 11 out of possible 12 frames to score a high 278 against Dong Hyuk's 224.
It was Rafiq's fourth gold, thus equalling his previous feat in Hong Kong last year.
Earlier in the first stepladder match, Dong Hyuk also prevented an all-Malaysian affair by downing Hafiz Zainuddin 255-207.
Rafiq earned the top seeding by chalking up a 3,754 total, with Hafiz (3,717) in second and Dong Hyuk (3,564) third.
The Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress said in a social media statement: "The best ever achievement by a team in the Asian Championships before today was Taiwan in 2004... they won 8 golds 2 silver and 3 bronze.
Today we call ourselves the BEST EVER ASIAN TEAM IN HISTORY with 8 golds, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals!"