29th June, Kuching, Sarawak: Noh Jimin of Korea took over the overall lead of the Girl's Singles at the 2026 IBF World Youth Championships after topping the second squad ahead of Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee of Malaysia in second and Lim Shi En of Singapore third.

Katelyn Abigania of USA set the early pace with 236 in her opening game to lead Nicole Layrisse of Sweden by six pins. Two Malaysians, Adelia Nur Irwan, Adania Mohd Redzwan and Saskia Kirschke of Germany shared third spot with 217 a piece.

Noh, who started with a moderate 205, set the lanes ablazed with a stunning 289 to move into the lead. Adelia added 241 to take up second while Ema Iwazawa of Czechia moved into third and Abigania slipped down to fourth. The Korean continued to set a cracking pace with 200 and 274 in the third and fourth games.

Adelia saw the gap to the leader increased from 36 pins up to 99 pins. Lim moved into third spot with the American remaining in fourth. Noh ended the qualifying round with 215 and 235 to win the squad and emerged as the overall leader with 1418.

Adelia, who trailed the Korean from the second game, settled for second with 1287, 131 pins adrift. Lim maintained third position with 1273. Abigiana and the second Malaysian, Adania tied in fourth position with 1247. Squad 1 leader, Qurratu'Ain Izdihar of Malaysia ended second overall and her team-mate, Adelia third.

Elizabeth Teuber made it four in the Matchplay round after finishing 16th position with 1208. Paris Gonzales of Peru was devastated after missing the cut by a single pin in 17th position.

The top 16 qualified for the head-to-head Matchplay Round-Robin style matches with 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss in two groups. The top two with the highest points from each group will proceed to the Singles Semi-finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuching, Sarawak.