Wanning, Hainan Province, China: The 19th Volvo China Junior Match Play Championship came to an exciting conclusion with Li Zhengda capturing the Boys’ competition and Xing Feiyu being crowned the Girls’ champion.
Playing over the East Course at The Dunes at Shenzhou Peninsula, the 11th-seeded Li put away the fourth seeded Gu Liangliang 3&1 in the final.
The Girls’ competition proved a tighter battle as 13-year-old Xing battled back from a one-hole deficit to beat Liu Yingyuan one-up.
In the consolation matches, Wang Zihao defeated Shi Haoxuan 2&1 in the Boys’ competition to finish third. His sister, Wang Ziming, won the Girls’ consolation when fifth-seeded Chen Zhuo withdrew before their match with injury.
The 14-year-old Li, who beat his older brother, Li Zhengqian, 3&2, in the quarter-finals, started the final strongly, making a birdie-three on the opening hole to go one-up. The 15-year-old Gu squared the match twice over the first five holes before carding a birdie at the par-four eighth to go one-up.
With the match again all square through 10 holes, Li went ahead for good when he made a par at the 13th as Gu three-putted from 30 feet for a bogey-five. At the par-five 16th, Li reached the green in two and sank a 12-footer for eagle to go two-up. At the 17th, Li chipped to 18 feet and two-putted for a par to secure his first win since last November.
"I'm 80 per cent happy for myself and 20 per cent unhappy for Gu, one of my best friends. I played stress-free but he looked a little bit stressed,” said the Melbourne-based Li, whose triumph has earned him a sponsor’s exemption into next year’s Volvo China Open.
“I had four runners-up finishes going into this week. Now I am very excited to be the winner. Both my brother and I are looking forward to the 30th Volvo China Open. It’s great for me to be able to compare my game against European Tour players and see what areas I need to improve on. My goal is the PGA Tour.”
Nantong native Gu, a winner of four events on the junior circuit over the past two years, was in reflective mood after the loss. “I am not good at match play. But I did better than in the past,” said the teenager, who impressed as a member of China’s team at last month’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Team Championship for the Nomura Cup in Vietnam.
In the Girls’ final, Xing won her third title of the year in a match that was undecided until the last hole.
After 16-year-old Liu made par to go one-up at the opening hole, Xing, 751st in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, won the next to square the match. It would stay that way through 13 holes until Liu made par at the 14th to go one-up.
After making an eagle three from 12 feet at the 16th to draw even, Xing produced a birdie three at 17 to go one-up. The Kunming native closed with another birdie at the last to match Liu and preserve the win.
Xing, who receives a spot in the Volvo China Open Pro-Am, said: “The closing three holes were very satisfying, especially the 16th hole where I decided to go for it and was rewarded with an eagle.
“Going into the event, I didn’t like match play. I thought that my game was better suited for stroke play. Now I am changing my mind after the five rounds of tough battles. I learned a lot.”