Zara, Heena keep India afloat in Queen Sirikit Cup team race

India’s trio of Zara Anand, Mannat Brar and Heena Kang have done well so far at the 45^th Queen Sirikit Cup Asia-Pacific women’s amateur championship in Miyazaki, Japan, but are well off the podium pace. Image courtesy queensirikitcup.org.

By Rahul Banerji

Zara Anand extended her fine run at the 45^th Queen Sirikit Cup in Miyazaki, Japan, on Thursday, climbing three spots into a share of seventh place at the Phoenix Seagaia Resort’s Tom Watson Golf Course.

Placed 10th overnight, Zara, who was 12^th at last year’s event in New Zealand, shot an even par 72 to sit on a par 216 total.

Behind her, Heena Kang shook off an uneven start to fire a 2 under 70 and rise into a tie for 24^th place on 6 over 220. Mannat Brar (225) fell away on the day, down 11 spots from her overnight joint 15^th place.

In the team event where a country’s two best on the day count, India stayed fifth on level par 432 (after 54 holes) on the basis of cards turned in by Zara and Heena.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s defending champion Oh Soo-min continued her dominant run with q stunning 10-under 62 for a third straight card in the 60s to top the standings by a healthy 12 shots.

Oh also put Korea comfortably ahead of the rest in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship.

Dominant performance

With a three-day total of 18 under 198, the 16-year-old Oh leads Japan’s Aria Nagasawa (70) and is poised to become just the second player in the tournament’s history to win it twice in a row.

It now is a battle for the two remaining spots on the podium behind Oh between Nagasawa (210), Thailand’s Prim Prachnakon (211), Zhou Shiyuan of China, and Koreans Su Min Hong and Jung Min Seo (212).

Korea on 27 under 405 are now 17 strokes clear of second-placed Japan on 10 under 422 in the team event.

Japan (422) are followed by Thailand (424), China (425), India (432), Australia and Hong Kong, China (both 439), Chinese Taipei (440), Singapore (441), Indonesia (444), Malaysia (446), Vietnam (464) and the Philippines (471).

Oh carded 11 birdies against one bogey on Thursday and said later, “It was really perfect. My putting had been just a bit off for the first two days, but today it was really good and I made a lot of putts.

“I’ve never won the same tournament two years in a row, so if I can win it would be a great memory,” she added.

“When it’s a situation where I need to play it safe, I think it’s important to stick to that strategy.”

Selected third round scores

198 – Oh Soo-min (Korea) 69-67-62

210 – Aira Nagasawa (Japan) 69-71-70

211 – Prim Prachnakorn (Thailand) 71-70-70

212 – Zhou Shiyuan (China) 75-66-71; Hong Su-min (Korea) 70-71-71; Jung Min-seo (Korea) 74-66-72

216 – Jazy Roberts (Australia) 71-76-69; Zara Anand (India) 73-71-72; Thitikarn Thapasit (Thailand) 72-72-72; Liu Yujie (China) 71-72-73

217 – Jaymie Ng (Singapore) 70-73-74; Anna Iwanaga (Japan) 69-73-75

218 – Elin Wang (Hong Kong, China) 74-71-73

219 – Hsieh Ping-hua (Chinese Taipei) 74-76-69; Mamika Shinchi (Japan) 76-69-74

221 – Achiraya Sriwong (Thailand) 76-76-69; Xu Ying (China) 75-76-70; Sophie Han (Hong Kong, China) 73-74-74

222 – Wu Shuang (Chinese Taipei) 77-72-73; Bianca Naomi Laksono (Indonesia) 72-73-77

223 – Rachel Lee (Australia) 79-72-72; Hee Jie Piang (Malaysia) 72-79-72; Xin Yao Wang (Malaysia) 79-70-74

224 – Heena Kang (India) 76-78-70; Chen Xingtong (Singapore) 77-74-73

225 – Sabrina Wong (Hong Kong, China) 75-74-76; Mannat Brar (India) 77-70-78

Third round team scores

405 – Korea (139-133-133)
422 – Japan (138-140-144)
424 – Thailand (143-142-139)
425 – China (146-138-141)
432 – India (149-141-142)
439 – Australia (150-148-141); Hong Kong, China (147-145-147)
440 – Chinese Taipei (151-147-142)
441 – Singapore (147-147-147)
444 – Indonesia (150-143-151)
446 – Malaysia (151-149-146)
464 – Vietnam (149-158-157)
471 – Philippines (158-156-157)

Also read: Zara, Mannat hold top-15 spots at Queen Sirikit Cup in Japan