From a Correspondent
Singapore: Riding a brilliant team performance, Japan ended a 20-year Queen Sirikit Cup title drought in sweltering conditions at Singapore’s Laguna National Golf Resort Club.
Mizuki Hashimoto, Miku Ueta and Ayaka Tezuka gelled perfectly to secure their country’s first Asia Pacific Amateur Ladies Team Championship crown since 2002.
India, represented by three teenagers, finished well in ninth place overall on a four-day 13-over 589 aggregate (150-145-152-142).
Friday’s round of 2-under round 142 was built on a 3-under 69 from Sneha Singh and Dassani Janniya’s 1-over 73 with the team’s two best scores counted.
Overall, Sneha finished tied 14th with cards of 75, 72, 74 and 69 for a 2-over aggregate 290.
National champion Avani Prashanth was sole 24th on 12-over 300 (75-73-78-74) and Dassani was T33 on 25-over 313.
Beginning the final day with a one-stroke advantage, the Japanese posted a last-round score of 5-under 139 thanks to a 68 from Ueta and a 71 from Tezuka.
Comfortable margin
That gave them a 72-hole aggregate of 20-under 556 and a seven-shot victory from New Zealand.
Chasing a seventh successive win and a 13th triumph in the past 14 stagings of the event, the Korean trio of Lee Ji-hyun, Kim Min-byeol and Bang Shin-sil made a bold early charge.
Eventually, though, they had to settle for third on 566.
Hosts Singapore, led by Shannon Tan, were fourth (567), followed by Chinese Taipei (570), Thailand (574), Australia and Malaysia (577), India (589), Hong Kong (600), the Philippines (611), Indonesia (613) and Myanmar (677).
Individual topper
Individual glory went to Hashimoto, the reigning Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion.
Testament to the strength of the Japan team, her closing one-over 73 was omitted in the event in which the best two daily scores in each three-strong team are counted.
Nonetheless the buffer afforded her after a second-round 64 enabled her to post a total of nine-under 279 – one shot in front of Singapore’s Tan.
The Singapore golfer’s solitary blemish in 72 holes came at the par-three 12th where she found water off the tee and ran up a double-bogey five.
Not one of the winning trio was born when Japan last hoisted the trophy at Malaysia’s A’Famosa Resort, the 2002 team made up of Ai Miyazato, Kyoko Furuya and Ayako Uehara.
“As a team we tried a new emphasis this week on recovery,” said 19-year-old Hashimoto, who has two more years of college ahead of her before she contemplates turning pro.
“We usually practice in the afternoon after we finish our round. But because of the heat here we had a new plan – swim, relax and going to the gym to help our bodies recover.” (courtesy queensirikitcup.org)
Team scores
556 – Japan 140-132-145-139
563 – New Zealand 142-137-139-145
566 – Korea 136-141-147-142
+567 – Singapore 144-142-139-142
570 – Chinese Taipei 145-143-140-142
574 – Thailand 149-144-141-140
577 – Australia 146-145-148-138; Malaysia 148-143-143-143
589 – India 150-145-152-142
600 – Hong Kong 151-152-149-148
611 – Philippines 156-156-149-150
613 – Indonesia 158-149-155-151
677 – Myanmar 171-171-170-165
Individual scores
279 – Mizuki Hashimoto (Japan) 70-64-72-73
280 – Shannon Tan (Singapore) 70-70-68-72
283 – Miku Ueta (Japan) 71-68-76-68; Huang Ting-hsuan (Chinese Taipei) 73-71-67-72
285 – Liyana Durisic (Malaysia) 75-72-70-68
286 – Kirsten Rudgeley (Australia) 73-72-74-67; Ayaka Tezuka (Japan) 70-72-73-71; Lee Ji-hyun (Korea) 66-72-74-74; Kim Min-byeol (Korea) 70-69-73-74
287 – Jaymie Ng (Singapore) 74-72-71-70; Fiona Xu (New Zealand) 70-69-75-73
288 – Pimpisa Rubrong (Thailand) 74-73-70-71
289 – Vivian Lu (New Zealand) 72-68-68-81
290 – Sneha Singh (India) 75-72-74-69; Natthakritta Vongtaveelap (Thailand) 77-73-71-69
291 – Bang Shin-sil (Korea) 73-73-77-68
293 – Thitikarn Thapasit (Thailand) 75-71-74-73
294 – Eun-seo Choi (New Zealand) 72-79-71-72
295 – Caitlin Peirce (Australia) 73-77-74-71
296 – Chloe Chan (Hong Kong) 73-76-73-74; Kelsey Bennett (Australia) 77-73-74-72
298 – Arnie Pauline Taguines (Philippines) 76-75-74-73
299 – Zulaikah Nurziana Bt Nasser (Malaysia) 73-71-74-81
300 – Avani Prashanth (India) 75-73-78-74
301 – Liao Hsin-chun (Chinese Taipei) 72-76-73-80
302 – Wu Chen-wei (Chinese Taipei) 79-72-81-70
304 – Khaing Phu Pwint Yati (Myanmar) 76-78-76-74
306 – Arianna Lau (Hong Kong) 78-78-76-74; Ng Jing Xuen (Malaysia) 82-76-73-75; Yoko Tai (Singapore) 75-74-81-76
307 – Elaine Widjaja (Indonesia) 78-79-76-74
312 – Rayi Geulis Zullandari (Indonesia) 80-75-79-78
313 – Janniya Dassani (India) 80-82-78-73; Samantha Marie Dizon (Philippines) 80-81-75-77; Bianca Naomi Amina Lakssono (Indonesia) 80-74-82-77
318 – Iris Wang Xin-yi (Hong Kong) 81-76-79-82
373 – Khin Moe Pyae Sone (Myanmar) 95-93-94-91
417 – Phoo Zayar Wai (Myanmar) 111-102-95-109
NR – Lois Kaye Go (Philippines)
Also read: Japan, NZ in battle for honours at Queen Sirikit Cup, India stay ninth
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