South Korean girls’ champions
South Korea swept both the boys’ and girls’ team titles at the fifth Selangor International Junior Golf Championship, which came to an exciting conclusion on Saturday at Seri Selangor Golf Club.
On a bright and sunny day, a stark contrast to yesterday’s rainy weather, the South Korean boys’ team of Chun Jiyul (72, 69, 69), Lee Sol (73, 72, 70), Jung Jiwon (73, 72, 71) and Lee Junki (88, 77, 81) signed in a 54-hole team total of seven-under-par 641 – four shots ahead of runners-up Japan, who had led for the first two rounds.
Lee Sol also had bragging rights as the only player to score a hole-in-one during the championship, holing a seven-iron from 159 metres at the par-three 3rd hole early in the final round.
The Japanese side of Koshin Nagasaki (70, 66, 67), Kouta Inoue (72, 73, 68) and Sakutoshi Yamazaki (73, 76, 80) finished with a total of three-under-par 645. With their fourth player pulling out just before the start of the event due to illness, the disadvantage of having only three players finally caught up with their heroic effort.
Powered by a superb six-under-par 66 from Aiden Tai John Roberts (75, 72, 66), the Malaysian team soared up the leaderboard into third place on 649. He was ably supported by team-mates Andrew Yap (71, 73, 74), Ezekiel Ritz Hafi Suzearitz (73, 77, 70) and Anthony Lim (74, 76, 80).
The China (Hainan) team of Shijun Jing, Guolin Zeng, Zhuoxi Lu and Ziyao Lyu was fourth on 650. Jing was part of the winning team in 2024, when he took individual honours as well.
First round co-leaders the Philippines (David Charles Serdenia, Shinichi Suzuki, Emilio Gabriel Hernandez, Ralph Rian Batican) settled for fifth place on 653, four shots ahead of Team UUM International School Melaka (Kang Geon, Teuku Husein M. Danindra, Anis Dylan Sinno, Declan Ooi Ean Yui).
Boys Champion – Koshin Nagasaki of Japan
Nagasaki had the ample consolation of winning the boys’ individual title with his superb total score of 13-under-par 203, as the victory came with a coveted start at next week’s PKNS Selangor Masters. He finished five shots ahead of Jing, with Korea’s Chun taking third place on 210.
This will be Nagasaki’s first start in an Asian Development Tour event, although the 18-year-old played in three Japan Golf Tour events last year, making the cut in one.
“I’m so happy to win today and am looking forward to playing in the PKNS Selangor Masters, as it will be my first Asian Development Tour event. This course is really challenging, and the grass is different from what we have in Japan, plus we faced some tough weather conditions – so it was a good learning experience. I putted well this week and that really helped,” said Nagasaki, who was making his first tournament appearance in Malaysia.
Joining him at Seri Selangor in the season-opening event of the 2026 Asian Development Tour is the leading Malaysian boy, promising 17-year-old Aiden, who finished tied fourth on three-under-par 213.
“I think I kept myself really calm today throughout the round, and picked up birdies whenever I had the opportunity. I also managed to take advantage of the short par-fives. I’m really looking forward to playing in the PKNS Selangor Masters, as it’ll be nice to compete with the big guys,” said Aiden.
Best Malaysian Boy – Aiden Tai John Roberts
This will be Aiden’s second start in a professional event, following the Corolla Cross Cup on the domestic PGM Tour in 2024.
The powerful Korean girls’ team of Park Hyorin (71, 71, 74), You Roha (77, 69, 72), Jeon YuhYun (77, 70, 73) and Han Taein (76, 76, 72) meanwhile romped to a wire-to-wire victory with a 54-hole aggregate of three-over-par 651.
The Thailand quartet of Chanidapa Sripan (75, 77, 71), Palinee Vimoonchart (75, 77, 79), Pattraporn Wantawee (77, 76, 79) and Tanjira Issaraphon (79, 80, 78) was a distant second on 685.
Three shots further back in third place was team Japan on 688, represented by Meguri Irikura (74, 78, 75), Yui Sakihama (78, 77, 77), Shiina Maruo (85, 80, 73) and Ayaka Nishina (79, 77, 86).
The Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) National Junior Development Program team of Amberly Zaira Binti Zamri Malaysia, Amelia Lee, Ngo Yi Belle and Siti Nur Husna Aina Abdul Karim placed fourth on 694, while Chinese Taipei (Pei-Wei Chan, Yuan-Tung Liu, Yu Yu-Fei, Hsu Shu-Yu) rounded up the top-five with a total score of 707.
The PKNS team, comprising Vikasni Laakshithaa Bala Subramaniam, Anessha Eva Vellu, Mellvinna Nair Presnath and Putri Natasha Ameera, did well to take sixth place on 708.
The Korean players dominated the girls’ individual standings, with Park’s 54-hole total of even-par 216 (71, 71, 74) giving her the title by a narrow two-shot margin over compatriot Yu. Jeon was third on four-over-par 220.
The 15-year-old Park was elated with her fine performance in her first appearance in the tournament. “I had a triple bogey at the seventh hole when I went OB, but I didn’t give up. I’m very happy to win today, and I really enjoyed my time here,” she said.
Girls Champion – Park Hyorin of South Korea
“I will be staying on in Malaysia until February 24 to train and practice, as it’s very cold back home now,” added Park.
Korean team manager Kim Moonhyun was gushing in his praise of his players. “I’m very happy and really proud of my players, as they played well this week and gave their all. Last year, we missed out on the team titles and I was really disappointed, so this is really a great achievement,” he said.
A total of 115 players had teed off in the prestigious World Amateur Golf Ranking event, comprising young talents aged 12 to 19 from 11 countries – Bangladesh, China (Hainan), Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam, and Malaysia. 67 boys and 48 girls competed over 54 holes in separate gender divisions, each featuring individual and team competitions.
The field was cut following 36 holes to the top ten teams (and ties) in both the girls’ and boys’ categories. The ten leading players in the individual events also made it through to the final round, regardless of how their teams performed.
Organised by UUM International School Melaka (UUMISM) in collaboration with the MGA, the Selangor International Junior Golf Championship is a full-hospitality event sponsored by the Selangor State Government with PKNS Golf Management Services acting as event promoter.
