Manila, Philippines: Six of the top-40 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) will be vying for team and individual glory when the 43rd edition of the Queen Sirikit Cup tees-off on Tuesday (February 21).
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Nine months after helping Japan end their 20-year victory drought in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship, Mizuki Hashimoto will have her sights set on a ‘double double’ at Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.
As well as claiming individual honours at Singapore’s Laguna National Golf Resort Club last May, Hashimoto masterminded her country’s first team triumph since 2002. In the Philippines, the 20-year-old is aiming to repeat those dual successes.
Supporting her in the three-strong Japan team are Miku Ueta and Yuna Araki. Ueta was part of the victorious team in 2022 while the in-form Araki replaces Ayaka Tezuka.
Araki enjoyed a productive two-week spell in Australia in early January, winning the Australian Masters of the Amateurs and then finishing in a share of fourth place in the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship at New South Wales Golf Club, where Hashimoto triumphed.
On the back of those performances and victory in last year's Japan Girls' Junior Championship, Araki has risen to fifth in the WAGR, 10 spots in front of Hashimoto.
While Japan have been installed as favourites in the 12-nation Queen Sirikit Cup, history would appear to be against them. Although they’ve been crowned champions on seven occasions since the Cup’s inauguration in 1979, only once have Japan successfully defended their title, in 1980.
Among the countries attempting to prevent a second successive Japanese win are Korea, New Zealand, China and Chinese Taipei, all of whom have highly-rated players.
Before finishing third last year, Korea had been the event’s dominant force for more than a decade, winning 13 of the 14 previous stagings.
At Manila Southwoods, they’ll be leaning on world number 16 Kim Min-sol as they chase an eighth title in nine attempts.
During 2022, Kim won the Korea Girls Junior and the Song Am Cup, tied for 10th in the LPGA Tour’s BMW Ladies Championship in Korea and competed in the US Women’s Open and Women’s Australian Open.
If China are to have their name inscribed on the trophy for the first time, it will require a mighty effort from their leading light, Zhang Yahui, 31st in the WAGR.
In 2021 at the age of 15 years, eight months and one day, Zhang won the China LPGA Tour’s CTBC Zhuhai Challenge, making a 28-foot putt in a play-off. Her good form continued in 2022 with five top-three finishes in China LPGA Tour events and victory in the Shanshan Feng Academy International Junior Championship.
Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, will be looking to Huang Ting-hsuan for inspiration.
Joint third individually in Singapore last year, Huang further boosted her burgeoning reputation in November with victory in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) in Thailand, beating all of the region’s leading players, including 2021 WAAP winner Hashimoto.
For their part, New Zealand have selected the same trio that finished runners-up to Japan last year – Fiona Xu, Vivian Lu and Eunseo Choi.
Golf New Zealand’s High-Performance Manager Gregg Thorpe believes Xu, Lu and Choi are capable of emerging triumphant in the Philippines, emulating the success at Paraparaumu Beach in 1999, the last time New Zealand lifted the trophy.
Thorpe said: “Fiona, Vivian, and Eunseo all gained immeasurable experience from their second place finish last year. They’ve shown they gel well as a team and they’re looking forward to challenging the likes of Japan and Korea in the Philippines.”
Xu, who finished joint 10th individually at Laguna National, has risen to 22nd in the WAGR. Last year, she won the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship, was runner-up at the Riversdale Cup and Rene Erichsen Salver, made the US Junior Amateur quarter-finals, and finished 10th at the ISPS Australian Women’s Open.
In addition to the sextet of top-40 players, four other players from the WAGR’s top-100 are in the starting line-up at Manila Southwoods – Japan’s Ueta (64th), Koreans Seo Kyo-rim (66th) and Yoo Hyun-jo (71st) and Indian Avani Prashanth (93rd).