Christchurch, New Zealand: Recently crowned Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) champion Wu Chun-wei will join four of the top-50 players in the world in a star-studded line-up at the 44th edition of the Queen Sirikit Cup.
To be staged at New Zealand's Clearwater Golf Club from March 20-23, the 72-hole Amateur Ladies Asia-Pacific Invitational Golf Team Championship will feature three-strong teams from 12 countries and territories.
Among the 36 participants are no fewer than eight from the top-100 in the latest World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), led by in-form Koreans Oh Soo-min (23rd) and Lee Hyo-song (33rd) and the Japanese duo of Mamika Shinchi (39th) and Saori Iijima (45th).
The only two teams with all three members currently in the WAGR top-100 are defending champions Korea (Oh, Lee and 89th-placed Kim Shi-hyun) and Australia - Justice Bosio (65), Caitlin Peirce (76) and Sarah Hammett (97).
While the Australians are aiming for a first Queen Sirikit Cup success since Minjee Lee inspired them to victory in 2013, Chinese Taipei’s hopes of ending their barren spell, stretching back to Tseng Ya-ni's pomp as an amateur in 2006, will rest squarely on the shoulders of Wu.
The 19-year-old sprang to prominence in Thailand in early February when she posted a wire-to-wire success at Siam Country Club’s Waterside Course in the sixth edition of the WAAP.
In so doing, she rose into the top-150 in the WAGR and has earned starts in three Major championships in 2024 - the AIG Women’s Open, the Amundi Evian Championship and the Chevron Championship – as well as invitations to a handful of other elite championships including the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, The 121st Women’s Amateur Championship and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
For Wu, along with this year’s Australian Women’s Amateur champion Shinchi and her fellow-Japanese Iijima, the Queen Sirikit Cup will be their final event before they head Stateside for the showpiece Augusta National gathering.
Meanwhile, Wu’s three closest rivals from the WAAP are lining up in New Zealand – Korean Lee (runner-up) and Thais Achiraya Sriwong (third) and Pimpisa Rubrong (fourth).
At Siam Country Club, 16-year-old Korean Oh ended in a share of 26th place. But her stock – as well as her world ranking – soared last week when she placed third in the Korean LPGA Tour’s season-opening Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open.
Although she fell short of becoming the first amateur winner on the KLPGA Tour since 2017, a 28-place rise into the top-50 in the WAGR for the first time was consolation.
Korea will be bidding for a 23rd victory in the Queen Sirikit Cup in which the best two daily scores in each three-strong team are counted. Since 2007, Korea has triumphed 13 times out of 15, missing out only in 2013 and 2022.
On a tense final day at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club in the Philippines last year, the Korean team of Kim Min-sol, Yoo Hyun-jo and Seo Kyo-rim held firm to emerge triumphant in the face of a strong challenge from India.
Special focus at Clearwater Golf Club will fall on Eunseo Choi, Vivian Lu and Amy Im who will be attempting to emulate New Zealand’s success in 1999 when the hosts emerged victorious at Paraparaumu Beach – the last time the trophy remained on New Zealand shores.
TEAMS
(Figures in parenthesis indicate World Amateur Golf Ranking as of March 13)
Australia: Justice Bosio (65); Caitlin Peirce (76); Sarah Hammett (97)
Chinese Taipei: Wu Chun-wei (141); Liao Hsin-chun (229); Hsieh Ping-hua (749)
Hong Kong, China: Arianna Lau (106); Sophie Han (169); Angel Yin Ji-ayi (849)
India: Vidhatri Urs (418); Zara Anand (586); Heena Kang (1102)
Indonesia: Kristina Yoko (247); Elaine Widjaja (295); Sania Talita Wahyudi (473)
Japan: Mamika Shinchi (39); Saori Iijima (45); Aina Fujimoto (147)
Korea: Oh Soo-min (23); Lee Hyo-song (33); Kim Shi-hyun (89)
Malaysia: Jing Xuen Ng (212); Sohniya Chandra Mohan (766); Hee Jie Pang (938)
New Zealand: Eunseo Choi (131); Vivian Lu (148); Amy Im (424)
Philippines: Alethea Paige Gaccion (530); Grace Pauline Quintanilla (624); Reese Allyson Ng (1266)
Singapore: Aloysa Atienza (373); Jaymie Ng (575); Hailey Loh (688)
Thailand: Achiraya Sriwong (124); Pimpisa Rubrong (280); Namo Luangnitikul (692)
