The Perak Government has agreed to fully sponsor four-year-old Puteri Rabiatul Adawiyah Mat Zaki participate in the Seventh Asian Schools Chess Championship in New Delhi, India from Dec 16 to 23.
State arts, culture, youth and sports committee chairman Zainol Padzi Paharuddin said the state government decided to sponsor the Perak-born as she displayed excellence at playing chess.
“She is adept at the game…we carried out test matches when we met her last week and found that Puteri Rabiatul Adawiyah is indeed, talented,” he told reporters after presenting a RM10,000 cheque to sponsor the girl yesterday.
He said the state government was excited with the girl’s talent and hoped more children in the state would venture into trying out a variety of sports and take it to a higher level.
“We realised that Puteri Rabiatul Adawiyah could represent the country at the international chess championship. Although the Malaysian Chess Federation did not have the allocation, we are providing a RM10,000 sponsorship.” Zainol Padzi said the sponsorship would cover the player’s expenses, as well as those of her parents.
They will depart to New Delhi in a few days. Meanwhile, Puteri Rabiatul Adawiyah who was accompanied by her mother, Raja Noraizah Raja Mahmood, at today’s event said she hoped to win in the Under-5 category at the championship.
– Bernama
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