Singapore: Some of the best players in the region are drawing on a winning mentality to motivate them as they bid for glory in the fifth edition of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP).
Indian Avani Prashanth, on the heels of a sensational 10-shot win at last month’s Queen Sirikit Cup in the Philippines, is hoping a similar mindset will help her continue that form and win the WAAP.
Calling the WAAP a ‘bookmark championship’ of her season, the 16-year-old Prashanth is among the favourites in a high-quality field consisting of 85 players from 22 countries.
Including Prashanth, who jumped to number 77 after her Queen Sirikit triumph, there are 18 top-100 players from the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) competing over the Singapore Island Country Club’s New Course this week.
The Bengaluru-based Prashanth is known for hitting the ball a long way, but her recent win by a record-equalling margin was because of better use of brain than brawn.
“I had a pretty good week at the Queen Sirikit Cup. But regardless of whether I have a good or a bad week, I sit and analyse it with my dad. We look at areas we need to improve on, and there was some even from that week,” said Prashanth.
“So, I have worked on those parts and I’m looking forward to keeping the same game plan – not to take any risks, and yet play my usual aggressive game. I played smart in Manila, which is what I need to do this week.”
Chinese Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan is the defending champion. The 18-year-old won the title in stunning fashion last year at Siam Country Club in Thailand, when she mounted a late charge and made six birdies in her last 11 holes on Sunday.
That win got her exemptions into three Major championships this year – AIG Women’s Open, the Amundi Evian Championship and the Chevron Championship – as well as the Hana Financial Group Championship and an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Huang said: “This week, I am just going to enjoy playing with my partners and have fun. The challenge for us this week is that we have to push our own trolleys and the golf course is very hilly. I just want to stay hydrated and not get impatient.”
Kim Min-sol, the highest-ranked Korean in the field at world number 15, finished sixth individually in the Queen Sirikit Cup and was part of the triumphant three-strong Korean team.
She will not be short of motivation, after watching her idol and mentor Ko Jin-young win the HSBC Women’s Championship a few miles down the road in Singapore last week.
“We shared a room in Vietnam where the Korean national team was doing its winter training, and I asked her a lot of questions. Not only am I personally close to her, she’s also someone I really respect and admire.
“She is one of the top players in the world, but it’s her hard work and her attitude towards golf that is inspirational for me,” said Kim, who opened with a 64 in the LPGA Tour’s BMW Ladies Championship last year and finished inside the top-10.
“She makes me want to practice harder and focus more on my game. I was watching her winning last week in Singapore and since I know how much she was struggling (with an injury last year), I was also crying with her.”
Prashanth and Kim have been paired together for the first two rounds, alongside the highest-ranked player in the field, world number four Rin Yoshida of Japan. The group is scheduled to tee off at 8:36 am.
Huang is paired with Vivian Lu of New Zealand and Lim Ji-yoo of Korea and will tee off at 12:14 pm in the first round.
In the first four editions of the WAAP, players from Thailand (Atthaya Thitikul), Japan (Yuka Yasuda and Mizuki Hashimoto) and Chinese Taipei (Huang) have held aloft the sought-after trophy.
The WAAP championship was developed by The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation to inspire future generations of women golfers.
The R&A is supported by championship event partners that share its commitment to developing golf in the Asia-Pacific – Rolex, Nippon Kabaya Ohayo Holdings, Hana Financial Group and Samsung.
For more information on the WAAP, visit https://www.randa.org/championships/womens-amateur-asia-pacific-championship
