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Yang Jiaxin |
Playing alongside some of the world's best known women golfers helped 13-year-old Apple Yang Jiaxin beat girls up to five years older than herself in the final of the HSBC National Junior Championship in Shanghai.
Jiaxin, whose given names translate as excellent (jia) and happy (xin), was both of those things on a wet, miserable day at the Sino-Bay Country Sports Club, beating 15-year-old China national team member Ashley Xiao Yi by three strokes to claim her first win in Group A (ages 15-17).
Afterwards, the Beijing-based student of English teaching pro James Slade explained that it was playing exhibition holes alongside Christie Kerr, Jeong Jang, Seon-hwa Lee, and Feng Shanshan at the previous week's Grand China Air LPGA event that gave her the self-belief to enter and win in the senior age group.
"Jeong Jang was so nice?-- she gave me a flower ball marker?-- and the others were also very friendly," said Apple. "It gave me confidence and it made me realise I'm not so far behind them off the tee. It made me think I can get on the LPGA one day."
The Boys Group A title went to Zhao Xiongyi, just two weeks short of his 17th birthday. Zhao has been attending a golf school in the South Korean capital of Seoul for the last two years. The tutelage of coach Han Yun-Hee paid off as Zhao shot a remarkable four-under-par final round 68 to pip national team member Liu Yuxiang by one stroke.
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Zhao Xiongyi |
"Just before I went to sleep I told myself - I'll shoot 68 and win - I told myself that over and over again," said Zhao, who also won the Wenzhou and Taicang legs at the beginning of the HSBC National Junior Championship season. "But I'm still surprised that I did win," he added. "I putted really well and my score was much better than I had hoped for."
Among the other winners as China's top young golfers celebrated the culmination of the championship's seven-tournament season was a pupil of Andy Leadbetter, son of David. 13-year-old Chen Zihao, who lives in Zhuhai near Macau and attends the Leadbetter Academy at Mission Hills, claimed the Boys Group C.
Meanwhile 10 year old Shi Yuting, who won five of the six regular-season events during the year, lived up to her name again in the final. Shi was once more as solid as her family name?-- which means 'Rock'?-- in winning the Girl's Group E (ages 8 to 10) title.
Kuo Jia-Kuei, the teaching professional at the Huangshan golf school where Shi lives and trains believes that she has the ability to be a top player.
"I think she has the potential to be another Yani Tseng or Feng Shanshan," said Kuo.
"The great thing is she's always smiling and she just loves being on the course."
In the competition for the youngest girls Guan Ruqing claimed her third title of the year, winning by a mile.
Meanwhile in the boy's Group D Guan Tianling bookmarked the year with another win to add to the Wenzhou Leg title he claimed at the start of the season.
"It's been another year of incredible growth and development," said HSBC Group Head of Sponsorship Giles Morgan of the championship, which was introduced as part of the HSBC China Junior Golf Program in 2007. "The scores have improved, the number of players has increased, the passion… the desire… and not just with the children. Just as important is the enthusiasm of all the clubs who have hosted tournaments. The legacy from that will be huge, because China needs the clubs to become more and more aware of the benefits of having strong and active junior golf at their courses."
(HSBC golf and David Ferguson, china.org.cn, November 3, 2008)