Miya’s Memorable Run Ended by Estonian Teder

Liverpool, England: Yuki Miya’s courageous run at The 131st Amateur Championship came to an end with a last-16 defeat to Estonia’s Richard Teder.

Having won his first two knockout matches, the New Zealander’s hopes of progressing were halted by Teder, who became the first Estonian to play in The Open last year and reached the quarter-finals of The Amateur in 2023.

He was also a member of the European Golf Association team that were beaten by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation in last year’s Ryder Cup-style Bonallack Trophy in the United Arab Emirates.

Miya, defeated in a play-off at the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in Vietnam in April, started brightly against Teder, racing into a three-up lead through eight holes.

But Teder, who is reaping the rewards of his work with a new putting coach, kick-started his recovery on the ninth with a chip to within 10-feet which set up a birdie.

He clawed another hole back on the 10th when he rolled in a birdie putt from 15 feet as the comeback gathered pace.

All-square after 12, Teder inched ahead when Miya stumbled to a bogey on the 15th and the Estonian doubled his lead in spectacular style on the 16th when he made a decisive eagle from the fringe of the green to all but seal the victory which he completed at 17, winning 2&1.

Miya was one of only three players from the Asia-Pacific region to finish in the top 64 in the 36-hole stroke play phase of the championship and qualify for the match play segment.

While Australians Hamish Farquharson and Wesley Hinton were ousted in the Round of 64, Miya overcame American Ty Holbrook at the 19th hole and Argentina’s Segundo Oliva Pinto, two-up, before meeting his match in Teder.

In the quarter-finals on Friday morning, Teder will face American Reed Arnaldo, who took 23 holes to defeat Denmark’s Oscar Valdemar Holm Bredkjær.

In the longest match he has ever contested, American Matt Moloney emerged victorious at the 24th hole over Arthur Carlier of France to book his quarter-final berth.

There was never more than one hole between them during a closely fought encounter over 18 holes and the pair were finally separated on the sixth extra hole when Carlier slipped to a bogey after finding an awkward spot in the rough.

Spurred on by last year’s Amateur Championship success of his good friend and compatriot Ethan Fang, Moloney is determined to keep the trophy in American hands.

The last time US golfers won back-to-back Amateur Championships was 50 years ago when Dick Siderowf won in 1976 to follow up Vinny Giles’ victory 12 months earlier.

Moloney will now face a last-eight match with his highly-rated countryman, Kihei Akina.

At number 12 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), Akina is the highest-placed player left in the draw and he demonstrated all his qualities with a late win against Sweden’s Jakob Melin in round three.

One-down through 16 holes of a high-quality contest, Akina made a birdie on 17 to draw level before a superbly executed pitch across the 18th green to within two-feet led to a match-winning birdie.

Englishman Sam Easterbrook reeled off two impressive victories as his tilt at the title gathered momentum.

The 20-year-old overcame the reigning R&A Boys’ Amateur champion Guus Lafeber by 3&1 in the morning before easing to a 3&2 victory over Stefan Jacobs of South Africa.

Jacobs had ended the ambitions of the leading qualifier, Wilhelm Ryding, in round two and despite a birdie, eagle start against Easterbrook, it was the Englishman who eventually sealed a quarter-final tie with Germany’s Emil Riegger.

Stuart Grehan, looking to become the first Irish champion since James Sugure in 2019, earned his last-eight spot the hard way with a 20th hole win over Spain’s Sergio Jimenez Romero.

Grehan will now play England’s Edward Featherstone, who was a 3&1 winner over Malan Potgieter of South Africa.

The winner of Saturday’s 36-hole Final will secure exemptions into The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale next month, the US Open, and, by tradition, an invitation to play in the Masters Tournament.