First-timers Japan make themselves at ‘home’ in Selangor junior meet

A job well done: Individual boys’ winner Jung Ji-won (left) and girls’ champion Sarisa Pojanalai posing with their trophies.

PETALING JAYA: Team Japan had a memorable debut at the Selangor International Junior Golf Championship after winning both the boys’ and girls’ team titles at the Seri Selangor Golf Club.

The Japanese contingent, represented by players from the Hills Golf Tommy Academy, showcased consistent golf to triumph amidst cloudy conditions in a field of 127 golfers from 14 nations.

The boys’ event saw the combination of Taisei Nagasaki, Sakutoshi Yamazaki, Miller Sato, and Yutaka Saito pull away from the pack on the final day on Saturday to score a total of two-under par 646 (223, 214, 209), placing them 12 shots clear of the Thai team in second with 10 over-par 658.

The Malaysian Golf Association team of Anson Yeo, Andrew Yap, Nathan Wong, and Ezekiel Riz Hafi Suzearitz surged up into third place on 16-over par 664 following a final round score of 218, edging first round leaders Philippines by two strokes.

In the girls’ event, Japan powered their way to a runaway wire-to-wire victory at the Seri Selangor course, with the quartet of Yuka Nishina, Mana Yoshizaki, Tsukiha Nakashima, and Rui Hatada combined for a tournament total of five-over-par 653 (217, 221, 215).

The Thai team trailed 15 strokes behind with 20-over par 668, while Singapore finished a distant third on 50-over par 698.

Japan team manager Yuki Hayashi was elated with his players’ fine performance, saying, “The team are participating in this event for the first time, and they had a very pleasant experience here.

“The Seri Selangor course is very tough and has an excellent design, and is different from the courses we have in Japan, so it was a good experience for them,” said Hayashi.

Hayashi’s son, Daichi, is based in Malaysia and was part of the PKNS Golf Academy team for this year’s championship.

He finished 10th on five-over par 221 (74, 70, 77) in what was his fourth consecutive appearance in the event.

The individual boys’ and girls’ titles meanwhile went to South Korea’s Jung Ji-won and Thailand’s Sarisa Pojanalai, respectively.

As the boy’s individual champion and leading Malaysian respectively, Jung and Anson Yeo, who finished third, earned invitations to next week’s PKNS Selangor Masters, which is the season opener for both the Asian Development Tour and Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM) Tour.

The US$200,000 (RM900,000) event will also be played at Seri Selangor.