PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's girls' team fell short in their bid to retain the title after settling for bronze at the World Youth Bowling Championships at Megalanes Sarawak on July 3 (Friday), following a semi-final defeat to arch-rivals Singapore.
The quartet of Adelia Nur Izwan Syazalee, Adania Mohd Redzwan, Qurratu'Ain Izdihar Pozi and Intan Nor Edryana Nor Azliman had arrived as defending champions after winning the crown in South Korea in 2024, but were unable to repeat the feat on home soil.
Led by Qurratu'Ain, Malaysia topped the qualifying standings after winning six of their seven matches to finish with 18 points, earning the top seed for the semi-finals.
However, the semi-finals match-up against Singapore proved to be the team’s downfall.
The match was closely fought right until the final frame of the deciding game, where Singapore eventually edged ahead with a 2-1 scoreline.
The national team entered the tournament with high expectations following their gold medal won in Doha last year, particularly with three of the four girls - Adelia, 19, Qurratu’Ain, 18, and Intan, 19 - still part of the team.
Previously, Adelia and Adania, 20, had secured at least another bronze medal for the country in the girls’ doubles’ category after advancing to the semi-finals.
The boys comprising Ethan Damien Goh, Wan Mohd Zarif Ikram Wan Mazlan, Mohd Danial Abu Samah, and Mohd Aiman Syahin Sulaiman failed to win any medals so far but their last hope of securing silverware will be in the mixed team event tomorrow.
RESULTS
TEAM
Boys
Qualifying: 1. Sweden (Swe) 2,267 pins, 2. Canada (Can) 2,153, 3. Romania (Rom) 2,149. Selected: 28. Malaysia (Mas) 1,908.
Girls
Semi-finals: Singapore (Sin) bt Malaysia (Mas) 202-176, 194-216, 210-199, United Sates (US) bt Australia (Aus) 225-208, 244-166
Second Round
Group A: 1. Malaysia (Mas) 1,421, 2. United States (US) 1,518.
Group B: 1. Australia (Aus) 1,373, Singapore (Sin) 1,448.
Qualifying: 1. United States (US) 2,145, 2. Singapore (Sin) 2,047, Korea (Kor) 2,018. Selected: Malaysia (Mas) 1,999.
