SUBANG JAYA: National youth bowler Adania Redzwan has a heart of gold.
The 19-year-old has pledged to contribute part of her RM10,000 prize money from the Milo Storm U22 International Junior All-Stars towards purchasing a hearing aid for her grandfather.
Competing in the girls' Open category, Adania finished runner-up after a 221-178 defeat to Singapore's Hazel Tan in the stepladder final at Sunway Mega Lanes today (Dec 14).
Victory would have earned her RM18,000, but she remains grateful for the opportunity to help her family.
"My grandfather recently discovered he has hearing difficulties, so I'm glad I can contribute towards his hearing aid," said Adania.
Despite narrowly missing out on defending the title won by her teammate Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee last year, Adania takes pride in her performance.
The achievement caps off an already memorable year, which included winning Malaysia's first-ever team gold at the World Youth Championships in Incheon this July, alongside teammates Adelia, Nur Hazirah Ramli and Anis Hannani Romzi.
"This was my first time competing in the stepladder finals since joining the national youth team last year," said Adania today (Dec 14).
"I performed exceptionally well in the finals, especially compared to the qualifying rounds where I struggled with spare conversions."
"This runner-up finish marks my best individual performance on the international stage, and I'm determined to build on it."
In the stepladder semi-finals, Adania emerged victorious in a three-way battle, rolling a 227 to edge out South Korea's Kim Bo Ah (225) and Singapore's Nur Irdina Hazly (200).
She had qualified fourth for the stepladder playoffs with a 2,180 total in the 10-game roll-off, while Singapore's Hazel dominated the qualifying rounds with 2,292, followed by Irdina (2,233) and Bo Ah (2,191).
Defending champion Adelia finished fifth with 2,140.
Looking ahead, Adania is focusing on the Asian Youth Championships, which Malaysia will host next year.
In the men's Open division, South Korea's Kim Tae Jin claimed the title and RM25,000 prize money by overcoming compatriot and defending champion Bae Jung Hun (216-194, 270-258).
Park Hyeon Sang secured third place, while Singapore's Jason Leung finished fourth.
Malaysia's Danial Abu Samah placed sixth, earning RM2,000 and securing a valuable opportunity for specialised training.
As the highest-ranked Malaysian in the boys' Open, Danial won a customised individual training session with a certified coach at the prestigious Kegel Training Centre (KTC) in Florida, United States.