By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/PNA
MANILA — Yuka Saso is among the favorites to win the second Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) golf tournament.
Saso, who won two gold medals in last year’s Asian Games in Jakarta, will join a field consisting of 80 female amateur golfers for the WAAP at The Royal Golf Club in Hokota, Japan on April 25-28.
Saso looks to avenge her loss to Thailand’s Atthaya Thithikul last year in Singapore.
Saso, Thithikul, and Japan’s Yuna Nishimura engaged in a playoff to decide the champion with Thithikul emerging victorious.
Saso, currently ranked 34th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is the third seed in this year’s WAAP.
Also looking to give Saso a run for her money like Thithikul and Nishimura, is the latter’s fellow Japanese golfer Yuka Yasuda, ranked 17th in the WAGR.
“Once again, we have the leading amateurs from this region taking part in the championship and the quality of the field shows how important the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship has already become within just one year of its inception,” Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation chairman Kei Muratsu said.
“We are looking forward to welcoming all of our participants to Japan and have no doubt they will put up as impressive a show as they did last year in Singapore,” Muratsu added.
