The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship (WAAP) returns to Singapore, the place where it all began, with its strongest field yet, including ten of the top-50 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR) confirmed for the fifth edition.
As many as 82 players from 21 Asia-Pacific countries will be in action in Asia’s premier women’s amateur championship, scheduled to be played at the Singapore Island Country Club from 9-12 March this year.
This is the second time Singapore has hosted the championship. In 2018, the island nation hosted the inaugural edition, which was won by Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, who has since progressed to reach number one in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and is currently number four.
Among the players who have confirmed their participation are two past champions – Japan’s Mizuki Hashimoto, who won the 2021 championship in Abu Dhabi, and the defending champion Chinese Taipei’s Ting-Hsuan Huang, who prevailed over Thai favourite Natthakritta Vongtaveelap in a tense finish last year at Siam Country Club in Pattaya.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_H3gcuqfuk
Rin Yoshida is the highest ranked player in the field at number four and leads a strong Japanese contingent that includes number five Yuna Araki, number 11 Sayaka Teraoka and number 14 Hashimoto. Araki is coming off a win at the Women’s Australian Masters of Amateurs in January, while Hashimoto won the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship.
It will be unfinished business for Hashimoto in Singapore, as she looked on course to secure back-to-back wins in Thailand last year. She led the championship deep into the third round but unfortunate mistakes on the back-nine saw her slip out of contention with a third-round 77.
“I wasn’t happy with what happened on Saturday in Thailand. However, I have taken it as a learning experience. It was an important chapter of my career, and I am sure that one loss has probably taught me more than my win in Abu Dhabi,” said the 20-year-old Hashimoto, who was inducted into the Japan National Team after her WAAP win.
“I am really looking forward to playing in Singapore and hopefully contending for the title once again. I am in good form and my recent win in Australia has boosted my confidence.”
Host nation Singapore will field the largest team of eight players, including Aloysa Margiela Atienza, Jaymie Ng and Inez Ng.
The United Arab Emirates are yet to confirm who will represent the country.
