Koreans in Selangor Show of Strength

Selangor, Malaysia: Korea swept both the boys’ and girls’ team titles at the fifth Selangor International Junior Golf Championship (SIJGC), while Japan’s Koshin Nagasaki and Korean Park Hyo-rin claimed individual glory.

On a bright and sunny final day at Seri Selangor Golf Club, a stark contrast to the previous day’s rainy weather, the Korean boys’ team of Chun Ji-yul (72, 69, 69), Lee Sol (73, 72, 70), Jung Ji-won (73, 72, 71) and Lee Jun-ki (88, 77, 81) signed for 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.

For good measure, Lee Sol used a seven-iron from 159 metres to ace the par-three third hole in the final round, the championship’s only hole-in-one.

With their fourth player pulling out just before the start of the event due to illness, Japan had to rely on the trio of Nagasaki (70, 66, 67), Kouta Inoue (72, 73, 68) and Sakutoshi Yamazaki (73, 76, 80).

Powered by a closing six-under 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 Jing Shijun, Zeng Guolin, Lu Zhuoxi and Lyu Ziyao was fourth on 650. Jing was part of the winning team in 2024, when he also took individual honours.

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).

Japan’s Nagasaki had the consolation of winning the boys’ individual title with an aggregate of 13-under 203, earning him a starting spot at next week’s PKNS Selangor Masters on the Asian Development Tour (ADT). He finished five shots ahead of Jing, with Korea’s Chun taking third place on 210.

“I’m so happy to win and am looking forward to playing in the PKNS Selangor Masters, as it will be my first ADT event,” said 18-year-old Nagasaki, who took part in three Japan Golf Tour events last year, making the cut in one.

“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 and that really helped,” added Nagasaki, who was making his first tournament appearance in Malaysia.

Joining him at Seri Selangor in the ADT’s 2026 season-opening event will be 17-year-old Tai, the leading Malaysian boy, finishing tied fourth on three-under 213.

“I kept really calm and picked up birdies whenever I had the opportunity. I also managed to take advantage of the short par-fives. I’m looking forward to playing in the PKNS Selangor Masters, as it’ll be nice to compete with the big guys,” said Tai.

In the SIJGC, the powerful Korean girls’ team of Park Hyo-rin (71, 71, 74), You Ro-ha (77, 69, 72), Jeon Yuh-yun (77, 70, 73) and Han Tae-in (76, 76, 72) 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 was Japan, 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 Programme team of Amberly Zaira Binti Zamri, Amelia Lee, Ngo Yi Belle and Siti Nur Husna Aina Abdul Karim placed fourth on 694, while Chinese Taipei (Chan Pei-wei, Liu Yuan-tung, Yu Yu-fei, Hsu Shu-yu) rounded out the top-five with a 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.

Koreans dominated the girls’ individual standings, with Park’s 54-hole total of even-par 216 (71, 71, 74) giving her the title by a two-shot margin over compatriot Yu. Jeon was third on four-over 220.

Park, aged 15, said: “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 and I really enjoyed my time here. I will be staying on in Malaysia until February 24 to train and practice, as it’s very cold back home now.”

Korean team manager Kim Moon-hyun said: “I’m happy and really proud of my players. They played well and gave their all. Last year, we missed out on the team titles and I was really disappointed, so this is a great achievement.”

A total of 115 players teed-off in the World Amateur Golf Ranking event, comprising players aged between 12 and 19 from 11 countries – Bangladesh, China (Hainan), Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. There were 67 boys and 48 girls competing in separate gender divisions, each featuring individual and team competitions.

The field was cut following 36 holes to the top 10 teams (and ties) in both the girls’ and boys’ categories. The 10 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.