Hong Kong SAR, China: Four weeks after being hospitalised with a virulent fever, jet-setting Ho Anh Huy is aiming to make up for lost time at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Championship.
Forced to withdraw mid-way through the final round of last month’s Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in Vietnam due to illness, Ho spent the next three days undergoing tests in a Ho Chi Minh City hospital.
Although there was no specific diagnosis, he lost six kilograms in weight and needed another 48 hours before he was deemed well enough to fly to the United Kingdom, where he attends Winchester College.
“I’m still building up my strength, but I’m getting there,” said the 15-year-old who returned to Asian soil last Friday in preparation to represent Vietnam at the Hong Kong Golf Club (HKGC) this week.
“I visited Hong Kong a few years ago, but this is my first tournament here. I’m still a little jet-lagged but looking forward it,” said Ho, currently 312th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
It was in October last year that Ho sprung to international prominence as a member of the Vietnam team that scored an historic maiden win in the Asia-Pacific Men’s Amateur Team Championship for the Nomura Cup.
“That was a memorable week. My game was a little inconsistent but I played well on the last day,” said Ho, who, by his own admission, has struggled with his golf and his health in the seven months that have elapsed since he partnered Nguyen Anh Minh and Le Khanh Hung at Vinpearl Hai Phong.
“These past few months have been tough as I’ve been making some swing changes and I’ve had limited time to practice. But I feel I’m now improving.
“This course is difficult – it’s tight and you need good game management. My expectations this week are not too high,” said Ho, who is nonetheless hopeful of securing a place alongside Anh Minh, Khanh Hung and Nguyen Tuan Anh in the Vietnam team for this year’s Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
This week, Anh Huy and Tuan Anh are bidding to become the first Vietnamese players to claim individual and team honours in the APGC Junior Championships.
While Anh Huy has been enduring challenging times, 16-year-old Tuan Anh is still on a high after emerging victorious in the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final. That success saw him rise to 364th in the WAGR.
As well as being among the favourites to gain individual honours in the 54-hole stroke play championship, the Vietnam duo will also be hard to beat in the two-player boys’ team event.
Among those also expected to be in contention are New Zealand’s Cooper Moore, at 257th in the WAGR the highest-rated player in the boys’ field following the late withdrawal of Indian Kartik Singh with a back injury.
Like Tuan Anh, Singaporean Brayden Lee will not be short of confidence. After missing the cut in the DP World Tour’s Porsche Singapore Classic in March by just one shot, Lee topped the leaderboard in The Royal Cup in Japan, a performance that has seen him soar to a career-best 267th in the WAGR.
A total of 61 players representing 16 nations and territories are competing at Fanling in the individual tournaments as well as being spread across boys, girls, and mixed team divisions.
Among the girls, the spotlight will fall on Hong Kong’s Arianna Lau, who is aiming for a third successive triumph.
“Although I’m defending champion, I’m trying to forget I won this before. My mindset is that this is another round of golf. As long as I do my best, I will not leave with any regrets,” said Lau, 52nd in the WAGR.
In Tuesday’s opening round, Lau will play alongside Korean Park Seojin, world number 43, and Australian Raegan Denton, 105th in the WAGR.
Two other players in confident mood are Lau’s compatriot Sophie Han and Thai Prim Prachnakorn.
While Han was joint runner-up in last week’s inaugural China Golf Women’s Legacy event on the CLPG Tour, Prim was second individually at the Queen Sirikit Cup in Japan a fortnight ago.
