In what was a thrilling and highly competitive tournament, the second leg of the four-tournament Srixon Malaysian Junior Development Tour series at Royal Perak Golf Club was a joy to witness and when the curtain finally fell, there was no shortage of applause for the winners.
The Boys A Champion, 15-18 years old, was won by Muhammad Ajmal Amin Mohd Fajri, handicap 3, when he returned with a gross score of 227 comprising rounds of 77-71-79. Having finished runner-up in the first leg at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf & Country Club, he was delighted with the victory. Coming in a close second, in his first appearance in the series, was Otso Jere Ville Juvonen, also handicap 3, on a 229 total following rounds of 74-78-77.
Prizes were awarded to the Top-5 in each category, and Kong Disheng Derrick (6) took third place on 232 (79-76-77), Shaiful Asri bin Shaiful Kumar (8) was fourth on 232 (74-78-80) and Nathan Wong Tsen Jac (4), fifth on 233 (79-76-78).
In the Girls A category, Sohniya Chandra Mohan (5) emerged champion with a gross score of 230 (78-77-75). In the first leg of the series, she was runner-up to Yan Yinuo, however, Yan had to withdraw due to an injury after the first round.
Second place went to Kwak Minji (2) on 233 following rounds of 84-73-76. Janice Kwan (5) took third spot on 234 (79-79-76), while Aarthi Ganesan (8) finished fourth on 236 (74-81-81) and Siti Nurfarah Fasha Mohamad Hasan (7) was fifth on 242 (79-81-82).
The next age group, Boys B, 13-14 years old, was won by six-handicapper Andrew Yap Yung Cheng with a score of 228. He played rounds of 77-77-74 to become champion for the second time and earned full points in the Order of Merit. He was also the winner of the first leg where he finished on 237.
In hot pursuit was Lim Hao Yu (11) on 232 after rounds of 77-81-74. Third place went to Evann Wong Tsen Sze (8) on 239 (79-79-81), the fourth spot was won by Connor Axel Liew Kai (8) on 242 (78-80-84), while Muhammad Adlan Mohamad Nizan (10) collected fifth on 243 (81-82-80).
The run-away winner in the Girls B category was Ngo Yi Belle (11) who carded rounds of 78-76-75 for a 229 total. Her closest rival was Nur Batrisyia Balqis Abdul Ghani (10) on 241 (85-75-81). Ngo finished third in the first leg, where Nur Batrisyia Balqis was the champion.
Siti Nur Husna Aina Abd Karim Nast (14) took third spot on 244 following rounds of (81-80-83), fourth place went to Nur Diana Syafiqah Abdullah (11) on 254 (83-84-87), while Nur Alisya Qistina Mohd Zainurin (11) finished fifth on 261 (87-90-84).
The youngest competitors in the 10-12 age group put on an amazing display, with the winner of the Boys C category chalking up his personal best score to date. Daichi Hayashi (10) carded rounds of 64-72 for a 136 total and achieved top honours in his category. His first round score raised eyebrows and looks of admiration from all present, especially the guest of honour. He was also a winner in the first leg in Shah Alam and now has full Order of Merit points, putting him at the top of the leaderboard in his category.
Maverick Chua (13) was second on 146 (75-71), third place went to Uwais Alqarni Shahmira (15) on 151 (75-76), fourth to Tan Yu Hong (18) on 151 (75-76) and fifth to Liew Zun Xin (15) on 159 (76-83).
The Girls C winner was Wang En Xi playing off handicap 16. She finished with a 155 total after rounds of 74-81 in her first appearance in the tournament series. Jane Sim (28) took second place on 165 (85-80), third place went to Vikasni Laakshithaa Bala Subramaniam (12) on 168 (84-84), fourth spot went to Jamie Kwan Yu Xuan (19) on 168 (83-85) and fifth to Deepikaa Ganesan (19) on 171 (86-85).
A number of the winners at Royal Perak Golf Club were also winners in the first round at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf & Country Club. Amongst them were Nathan Wong Tsen Jac and Adam Harithz Norazril, who were third and fourth respectively in the Boys A category. Kwak Minji and Siti Nurfarah Fasha Mohamad Hasan, who were third and fourth in the Girls A category. Muhammad Adlan Mohamad Nizam, Lim Hao Yu and Evann Wong Tsen Sze who finished second, third and fourth in the Boys B category.
In the Girls B, only Nur Diana Syafiqah Abdullah featured in the Top-5, finishing in second place. The Boys C had Uwais Alqarni Shahmira claiming third place and Maverick Chua, fourth, while the Girls C had Vikasni Laakshithaa Bala Subramaniam and Jane Sim, finishing first and second respectively.
Finishing once again in the Top-5 bodes well for their Order of Merit ranking and, with two more tournaments to be completed and with the final venue offering additional points, it’s still open for anyone to emerge overall champion in each age group.
Nett prizes were also awarded to the Top-3 finishers in each category.
Boys A was won by Zarif Halim Abdul Halim (22) with rounds of 64-58-64 (186), Lee Sihyeon (15) 64-68-67 (199) emerged runner-up and third place went to Nur Rahmat Akhmal Idrus (11) 74-65-70 (209).
Girls A was won by Sharni Nagalingam (12) 69-70-68 (207), second place went to Andrea Chin Yen Xing (12) 70-74-68 (212), while Hiromi Yamamoto (9) 74-74-74 (222) finished third.
Alif Iskandar Ishak (24) won Boys B 68-66-68 on 202, Aaron Avanesh Puvanesvaran (24) 72-66-65 (203) finished second, while Anis Dylan Sinno (16) took third spot on 205 67-73-65.
Lee Hyeonseo (31) won the Girls B 60-62-56 (178), runner-up spot went Myra Maisyura Muhammad Sofee (23) 67-72-63 (202), while the third place went to Chai You Chi (28) 69-69-64 (202).
Boys C was won by Wong Khaizen (24) 54-63 (117), second was Ching Jing Sheng (24) 62-59 (121), and third was Li Liteng (24) 60-61 (121).
The last group of Girl C was won by Mavis Chua (34) 57-55 (112), second was Wong Jo Yi (36) 56-63 (119) and third was Aleesya Maisarah Hairizal (35) 63-65 (128).
The 3rd leg in the series will take place in Johor, at Palm Resort Golf & Country Club from 29 November to 1 December 2022.
Especially eager to take advantage of the additional perks offered by the Srixon Malaysian Junior Development Tour, the Masterclass Series, children and their parents filled up the classes arranged to add to the skill set of these future stars of the golf world, as there was much for them to learn there too.
The first Masterclass was on Mental Strength and Agility by Jason Moriarty from Dwi Emas International School, while the second was by David Thong the Tournament Director and a seasoned MGA official.
The prize-giving ceremony was graced by the Raja Di-Hilir of Perak, Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain Ibni Almarhum Sultan Idris Iskandar. He presented prizes to the champions in each of the three age groups, both boys and girls.
Takuya Ono, Managing Director, Dunlop Srixon Sports Asia, was on hand to deliver words of encouragement to all present. Congratulating them for their hard work and dedication to honing their craft, with a special mention to the support given by their parents, without whom it would be impossible.
He gave thanks to the Malaysian Golf Association, Ministry of Youth & Sports, sponsors and host venue and expressed his delight at how the series was progressing and how he was eager to see who would prevail and take the final honours in the Order of Merit, as the skill level demonstrated so far was above expectations.
