Count on me: Mohd Danial Abu Samah’s bronze at the Philippines Open has only made him want more.
KUALA LUMPUR: Teenager Mohd Danial Abu Samah is getting bolder after bowling the competition over in his first tournament at the Philippines Open recently.
And garnering a bronze has whetted his appetite for bigger prizes.
The 17-year-old Danial, who joined the national team in March, now aims to win at least a gold medal this year and he will start that quest at the Malaysian Open at the Sunway Megalanes.
The qualification round for the competition started on Tuesday.In the Philippines, Danial finished 14th in the youth boys open qualifying round to book his spot in the Masters finals before advancing to the top three knockout stage as the third qualifier with 1,634 pins.
He, however, went down fighting to teammate and eventual champion Syabil Azam Syamsul Azam 171-199 in the first match of the boys’ stepladder finals last Friday to settle for bronze.
Danial believes that he stands a good chance of qualifying for the Malaysian Open and will make the most of it after that.
“Winning the Philippines Open has really boosted my confidence to take on the more fancied opponents,” said Danial.
“I’m aiming to bag one or more gold medals this year, so I have to continue working hard as performing well in one tournament will not guarantee future success.
“My performance in the qualifying round of the Malaysian Open so far is quite good.
“I’ll try my best in this home tourney as my target is to perform better than last week, either finish as the champion, first or second runner-up.”
The bowlers who have qualified for the Malaysian Open will be announced today.
Danial earned a national call-up after winning silvers in the doubles event at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) last September and singles event at the Junior Circuit last December.
The other new recruits in the youth squad are Mohd Hariz Adlan Azman, Gordon Tsen Fan Yew, Izz Naquiddin Putera, Wan Mohd Zarif Ikram (boys) and Adania Mohd Redzwan, Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee, Nur Hazirah Ramli and Nur Jeehan Jezzaty Suffian (girls).
