Team Korea leads after the first round of the 43rd Queen Sirikit Cup
A new-look Korean team overcame early nerves to claim opening-day honours in the 43rd edition of the Queen Sirikit Cup.
With Seo Kyu-rim carding a 69 and Yoo Hyun-jo contributing a 70, Korea soared to the top of the leaderboard at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.
With the two best daily scores in each three-strong team counting in the 12-nation Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship, Kim Min-sol’s 73 was not required.
With a five-under aggregate of 139, Korea heads into the second day with a one-stroke lead from New Zealand and Thailand. Hong Kong, China and defending champions Japan are a further stroke back in joint fourth.
They are followed by India and the Philippines (142), China and Indonesia (145), and Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Singapore (147).
On a day of impressive scoring over the Jack Nicklaus-designed Masters Course, New Zealand’s Fiona Xu, Indian Avani Prashanth and Rianne Malixi of the Philippines – three of the Asia-Pacific’s brightest golfing prospects – had the distinction of sharing top spot in the individual standings with four-under-par 68s.
Nine other players bettered par including Japan’s Yuna Araki, fifth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Araki’s two-under 70 was one better than compatriot Mizuki Hashimoto and Chinese-Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan, the past two winners of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific.
Hashimoto was also the leading individual at last year’s Queen Sirikit Cup in Singapore, helping Japan to end a 20-year victory drought in the event.
Before finishing third last year, Korea had been the championship’s dominant force for more than a decade, winning 13 of the 14 previous stagings. This week, they’re aiming to win the title for the eighth time in nine attempts.
In their bid to regain the Cup, the Koreans have selected a fresh, young team made up of 16-year-olds Kim and Seo and 17-year-old Yoo.
“Even though we’re leading, it was a tough day for us,” said Korean Captain Sang Won-ko. “It’s the first time any of the players have played in the Queen Sirikit Cup and the first time to play in the Philippines.
“Before tee-off they were all quite nervous and they made some mistakes. Now they’ve finished the first round, they’re hoping there won’t be any more mistakes and that maybe we have a chance of winning back the Cup.”
World number 16 Kim, in particular, endured a topsy-turvy day. She recovered well from a first hole bogey and was two-under playing the par-four 11th. There, she twice hit approach shots into the hazard fronting the green, en route to an eight. Another bogey at 13 followed before she once more displayed her battling qualities to play the final four holes in two-under.
The grouping of Rianne Malixi (68), Yuna Araki (70) and Fiona Xu (68) was 10-under-par
By comparison, the 68s from Xu, Malixi and Prashanth were all brilliantly executed.
Prashanth had five birdies against a solitary bogey, while Xu snared six birdies but dropped shots at 13 and 16.
Malixi, who will turn 16 next month, is the highest-ranked player in the team of the host nation which is bidding to win the Queen Sirikit Cup for the first time.
She ran up three bogeys, but offset those blemishes with five birdies and an eagle-two at the sixth where she produced the shot of the day, holing out with her eight-iron from 133 yards.
Team Scores
139 – Korea (Seo Kyo-rim 69; Yoo Hyun-jo 70; Kim Min-sol 73)
140 – New Zealand (Fiona Xu 68; Vivian Lu 72; Eunseo Choi 82); Thailand (Achiraya Sriwong 70; Thitikarn Thapasit 70; Namo Luangnitikul 74)
141 – Japan (Yuna Araki 70; Mizuki Hashimoto 71; Miku Ueta 74); Hong Kong, China (Sophie Han 69; Arianna Lau 72; Charlene Chung Yan-yin 79)
142 – India (Avani Prashanth 68; Vidhatri Urs 74; Nishna Patel 80); Philippines (Rianne Malixi 68; Mafy Singson 74; Lois Kaye Go 77)
145 – China (Ni Zixin 72; An Tong 73; Zhang Yahui 73); Indonesia (Elaine Widjaja 71; Kristina Natalia Yoko 74; Holly Victoria Halim 76)
147 – Chinese Taipei (Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan 71; Sophia Chen 76; Olivia Hung 76); Malaysia (Ng Jing Xuen 73; Wang Xin Yao 74; Foong Zi Yu 76); Singapore (Aloysa Atienza 73; Chen Xing Tong 74; Jillian Kuk 79)
Individual Scores
68 – Rianne Malixi (Philippines); Avani Prashanth (India); Fiona Xu (New Zealand)
69 – Sophie Han (Hong Kong, China); Seo Kyo-rim (Korea)
70 – Achiraya Sriwong (Thailand); Yuna Araki (Japan); Thitikarn Thapasit (Thailand); Yoo Hyun-jo (Korea)
71 – Mizuki Hashimoto (Japan); Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan (Chinese Taipei); Elaine Widjaja (Indonesia)
72 – Arianna Lau (Hong Kong, China); Vivian Lu (New Zealand); Ni Zixin (China)
73 – An Tong (China); Aloysa Atienza (Singapore); Kim Min-sol (Korea); Ng Jing Xuen (Malaysia); Zhang Yahui (China)
74 – Chen Xing Tong (Singapore); Namo Luangnitikul (Thailand); Mafy Singson (Philippines); Kristina Natalia Yoko (Indonesia); Miku Ueta (Japan); Vidhatri Urs (India); Wang Xin Yao (Malaysia)
76 – Sophia Chen (Chinese Taipei); Foong Zi Yu (Malaysia); Holly Victoria Halim (Indonesia); Olivia Hung (Chinese Taipei)
77 – Lois Kaye Go (Philippines)
79 – Charlene Chung Yan-yin (Hong Kong, China); Jillian Kuk (Singapore)
80 – Nishna Patel (India)
82 – Eunseo Choi (New Zealand)
