Singapore: Racing out of the starting blocks, Kim Min-sol surged into the opening-day lead in the fifth edition of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP).
Following a sparkling five-under-par 67 over the New Course at Singapore Island Country Club, the 16-year-old will take a one-stroke lead into Friday’s second round.
“There are still three rounds left. Today is just the first round. I will continue to move forward toward winning the championship,” said Kim, part of a three-strong Korean team that won the Queen Sirikit Cup in the Philippines a fortnight ago.
This week, Kim, 14th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), is not only bidding to add another piece of silverware to her trophy cabinet, but also to become the first player from her country to win the region’s premier women’s amateur championship.
“I just want to be the first Korean winner of this tournament,” said Kim, whose round included an eagle-three at the fourth hole and a three-putt, double-bogey on 16, the only blemish on her scorecard.
On a steamy day when winds picked up in the afternoon, it was not such a good opening for Kim’s much-heralded playing partners Rin Yoshida and Avani Prashanth.
Japan’s Yoshida, at number four in the WAGR the highest rated player in the field, struggled to a 75.
Meanwhile, Indian Prashanth, who won the individual title at the Queen Sirikit Cup by 10 strokes, dropped shots on 16 and 17 en route to a one-over 73.
While Kim claimed first-day honours, there were also plaudits for China’s Liu Yujie, at 12 the youngest of the 85 players in the starting line-up.
Daughter of double Olympic table tennis gold medallist Guoliang, Liu produced a remarkable round containing two birdies and 16 pars. Although 17 players bettered par, Liu had the distinction of being the only one to record a bogey-free round.
One shot off the pace being set by Kim are China’s Ni Zixin, Thai Navaporn Soontreeyapas and Hong Kong’s Sophie Han.
Defending WAAP champion Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan from Chinese Taipei is alongside Liu and Singapore’s Jaymie Ng in a share of eighth place on 70.
Japan’s Mizuki Hashimoto, triumphant when the tournament was staged in Abu Dhabi in 2021, carded a 74 and is tied for 28th.
In the first four editions of the WAAP, players from Thailand (Atthaya Thitikul), Japan (Yuka Yasuda and 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
