NOR FARAH FACES TOUGH ROAD TO DEFEND WORLD NO. 1 TITLE

KUALA LUMPUR, 16 March (Bernama) -- National women's lawn bowls ace Nor Farah Ain Abdullah risks losing her world number one status if she does not actively participate in international tournaments this year.

Aware of this, Nor Farah said maintaining her ranking is no easy task, as she needs to compete abroad to earn points, which involves high expenses.

She noted that budget constraints in the sport force athletes to forgo participation in certain tournaments.

"Maintaining the ranking is not easy because we need to go abroad (for tournaments), and we all know the state of our sports budget, so there may be some competitions we cannot attend, while others we can.

"For me, the target of retaining the number one ranking may be quite difficult, but staying in the top eight is achievable," said the 24-year-old athlete when met at the Malaysian Lawn Bowls Federation (PLBM) Iftar event at the Bukit Kiara Lawn Bowls Arena recently.

Nor Farah gained attention after making history by winning a gold medal in the women's singles event at the 2024 World Indoor Bowls Championships in Guernsey, Channel Islands, last April.

Earlier this month, the Kuala Selangor-born athlete continued to bring glory to Malaysia when she made history by becoming the world number one player.

Now, Nor Farah's focus is set on achieving yet another remarkable feat at the 2025 World Indoor Bowls Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland, from April 20 to 25 April.

"As the defending champion, my goal is to retain the title," she said

-- BERNAMA