Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) South Korea start as firm favourites in the 33rd Queen Sirikit Cup Golf starting at the Delhi Golf club Wednesday.

The Koreans, who have dominated women’s golf, both amateur and professional are seeking to extend their lease over the lovely Queen Sirikit Trophy.

The Koreans’ big star is the defending champion Hyo Joo Kim. Kim topped the individual standings and also spearheaded the Koreans to a team win in 2010 in Hamilton. They have been the team champions since 2007 and have also produced the individual champion since 2006. The last non-Korean winner was Tseng Ya Ni of Chinese Taipei in 2005. Chinese Taipei was the last team other than Korea to win the team title in 2005 and 2006.

The Koreans have also won the 2010 World Amateur and the 2010 Asian Games gold medals. Korea fielded a different team at both those events. For this year, they have kept Hyo Joo Kim, the RA Junior individual winner in 2010. She will be joined by Ji Hee Jang and Su Yeon Jang.

Meanwhile, the biggest plus for Indian team will be the home advantage. Two of the three girls, Gauri Monga and Vani Kapoor, both 17, have played a lot at the course here. The third member of the team, Aditi Ashok at 12 is the youngest participant in the event and she has been a two-time semi-finalist in the All India Amateur Championships.

“I have been at Queen Sirikit Cup before and playing at home we are keen to do well,” added the National champion Gauri Monga, who missed out on the 2010 Asian Games. She has since won six of the seven events she has played since September and is ranked No. 1 amateur in India.

“This is a very young and talented Indian team. They are young but they have the hunger and talent to do well,” added Rita Punwani, the Captain of the Indian team, who is also chairperson of the Queen Sirikit Cup Tournament Committee.

It is only for the third time in 33 years that all 14 members of the event are taking part. Interestingly, India is one of the only three countries to have played in each of the previous 32 editions.

Chinese Taipei, who won a bronze in Asian Games in 2010, have sent a different team that includes Yi Chen Liu, Chieh Lin Chiu and Chi Wang.

Last year’s runners-up New Zealand have sent a talented young team. Lydia Ko is back in the team and her teammates will be Emily Perry and Cecelia Cho.

The Chinese team will feature Yan Jing and Lin Xiyu, who were part of the silver medal winning team in Asian Games. Jing also won the individual bronze medal, signaling the arrival of China on the Asian golf scene.

The star in the Japanese team will be Mamiko Higa, who was eighth at the Asian Games and her teammates will be Eri Joma and Sakura Kito. Japan were fourth at Asian Games, losing the bronze to Chinese Taipei by just one shot.

The 14 participating countries are: Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand apart from hosts India.