Golden Glory for Malaysian Ng and Vietnam’s Khanh

Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Malaysian Ng Jing Xuen and Vietnam’s Le Khanh Hung defied the odds to strike gold in the individual golf tournaments at the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

On a day that saw Malaysia claim three medals and Vietnam two, regional powerhouse Thailand had to settle for a single silver, courtesy of Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) champion Eila Galitsky.

While Galitsky was edged out by Ng at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off in the women's event at Phnom Penh’s Garden City Golf Club, her male compatriots were left empty-handed.

For the second year in succession, much-heralded Ratchanon ‘TK’ Chantananuwat, winner of a professional tournament on the Asian Tour in 2022 and currently 27th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), missed out on a medal.

Joint fourth last year in Vietnam, this time around Ratchanon ended in a share of fifth place with fellow-Thai Jiradech Chaowarat and Enrique Santiago Dimayu of the Philippines.

Ng began the week in 371st position in the WAGR and with the main aim of improving on her 15th place finish in last year’s SEA Games when she felt she did not do herself justice.

“In the Vietnam SEA Games, I was putting too much pressure and being too harsh on myself, so things didn’t quite work out the way I wanted them to,” admitted the 15-year-old, who entered the final round in Cambodia one shot behind Galitsky in second spot.

After four holes on the final day of what proved to be an enthralling head-to-head battle for gold between the Malaysian and the Thai, Ng found herself trailing by three.

However, with a run of four birdies in six holes, Ng drew level after 10 and went ahead for the first time with another gain at the 12th.

Galitsky struck back with her third birdie of the day on the short 13th only for Ng to regain top spot two holes later. Once more, though, Galitsky replied strongly with a four at the long 17th. Both players parred 18, Ng signing for a 67 that contained five birdies and a solitary bogey while Galitsky carded a bogey-free 68.

Their 54-hole aggregates of 13-under 203 were five strokes in front of Malaysian Foong Xi Yu, who captured the bronze medal, three shots ahead of fourth-placed Rianne Malixi of the Philippines, at 96 in the WAGR the highest rated player in the field.

On the first play-off hole it was Ng who prevailed, striking her approach to 15-feet and safely two-putting for a par that Galitsky was unable to match after failing to make the green in regulation.

In the men’s event, Khanh, who will not turn 15 under July, posted a stunning wire-to-wire win.

Joint leader after an opening 69, Khanh followed up with a 65 to move two shots clear at the top.

After an edgy start to the final round with a bogey at the short fourth in what was to prove the only blemish on his day three scorecard, Khanh settled his nerves with a birdie at the sixth after which he was never seriously threatened for the gold.

With a closing 69 his three-day total of 13-under 203 was four shots ahead of his compatriot Nguyen Anh Minh (68) and Malaysians Malcolm Ting (70) and Anson Yeo (71).

In a three-way play-off to determine the silver and bronze medallists, Yeo was eliminated at the first extra hole.

A further four holes were required with Ting eventually outlasting Anh, whose final-hole bogey in regulation cost him outright second place.

Ratchanon, joint second overnight, suffered an early setback with a bogey-six at the second but was still on the heels of Khanh with nine holes remaining.

The par-fives on the back nine ultimately proved the Thai’s undoing with bogeys at 11 – he was one of only two players in the field who failed to make par or better on what was the easiest hole on the course – and 17 dropping him out of the picture.

Another dropped shot on 18 meant he covered the back nine in 38, only three players in the 32-strong men’s field faring worse.

Khanh began the week in 533rd position in the WAGR but in good spirits after a joint third-place finish in the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in March, an event won by Anh.

Ting’s silver medal winning performance did not surprise the Malaysian Golf Association’s Shairul Erwin.

“We were counting on the in-form Malcolm, who won two events in Indonesia recently, to contend for the individual gold,” said Shairul of the player who has climbed to 216th in the WAGR.

Featuring individuals and teams from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, golfing medals are on offer in four categories – men’s individual, men’s team, women’s individual and women’s team.

Golden girl Ng is now setting her sights on adding a team medal in partnership with Foong and Geraldine Wong.

Ng said: “I would like to thank the Malaysian Golf Association for selecting me again to be part of the team. It’s a great opportunity for me to prove myself. We will fight as a team and we will fight for gold.”

LEADING MEN’S SCORES

203 – Le Khanh Hung (Vietnam) 69-65-69
207 – Malcolm Ting* (Malaysia) 69-68-70; Nguyen Anh Minh** (Vietnam) 70-69-68; Anson Yeo (Malaysia) 72-64-71
209 – Enrique Santiago Dimayu (Philippines) 73-68-68; Jiradech Chaowarat (Thailand) 70-69-70; Ratchanon ‘TK’ Chantananuwat (Thailand) 72-64-73
210 – Ryan Ang (Singapore) 77-67-66; Arsit Areephun (Thailand) 73-69-68

*Ting won silver medal
** Anh won bronze medal

LEADING WOMEN’S SCORES

203 – Ng Jing Xuen* (Malaysia) 67-69-67; Eila Galitsky** (Thailand) 69-66-68
208 – Foong Xi Yu (Malaysia) 72-69-67
211 – Rianne Malixi (Philippines) 74-68-69
212 – Navaporn Soontreeyapas (Thailand) 72-70-70
213 – Lois Kaye Go (Philippines) 74-68-71
215 – Elaine Widjaja (Indonesia) 72-73-70; Aloysa Atienza (Singapore) 71-68-76
216 – Hailey Loh (Singapore) 74-70-72
218 – Prim Prachnakorn (Thailand) 73-70-75

*Ng won gold medal
**Galitsky won silver medal