KUALA LUMPUR: Twice denied the women’s team bowling gold by the United States last year, Malaysia will turn to a refreshed line-up in their bid to go one better at next week’s World Cup in Munich, Germany.

The Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) has recruited rising star Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee and Nur Hazirah Ramli to join established campaigners Natasha Roslan and Sin Li Jane.

The changes come after Malaysia twice finished runners-up to the Americans in major international team competitions last year.

The national women first fell 3-2 to the United States in the World Cup final in Hong Kong in January before suffering another narrow 2-1 defeat at the World Championships, also in Hong Kong, in December.

Adelia, who was part of the latter campaign, will be making her World Cup debut with impressive credentials. The youngster captured the singles silver at the World Championships, losing 2-0 to Finland’s Essi Pakarinen in the final.

She also heads to Munich on the back of a runner-up finish to Gillian Lim at the National Championships on Monday.

Nur Hazirah, meanwhile, was part of Malaysia’s gold medal-winning women’s team at last December’s SEA Games in Bangkok.

The pair replace Gillian and Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, who helped Malaysia claim the World Cup team silver last year.

Natasha will also have a title to defend after becoming the first Malaysian woman to win the World Cup singles crown.

While the women’s squad have undergone changes, MTBC have kept faith with the men’s quartet of Rafiq Ismail, Tun Hakim, Timmy Tan and Ahmad Muaz Fishol.

The four made history by defeating Puerto Rico 3-2 in last year’s final to secure Malaysia’s maiden men’s team gold.

“Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan, Ahmad Muaz and Tun Hakim will take up the challenge to defend the title,” said MTBC secretary-general Maradona Chok.

Rafiq also took silver in the men’s singles, contributing to Malaysia’s impressive haul of two golds and two silvers.

Maradona said this year’s edition would feature 44 men’s teams and 26 women’s teams, making it one of the biggest IBF competitions in recent years.

“The competition is expected to be tough as the format itself is gruelling,” he said.

The Malaysian squad will leave for Germany tomorrow, with the singles competition beginning on Oct 14 and the team finals scheduled for Oct 21.