KUCHING: Tournament favourites continued to take the lead on the second day of the ongoing inaugural Sarawak Junior Amateur Open 2018 championship which is being held at Damai Golf and Country Club (DGCC). Girls’ A category leader, 15-yearold Zulaikah Nurziana Nasser is set to bag her first major title on home soil after another good outing on the second day of competition while 12-year-old Mirabel Ting Ern Hui is still leading the Girls’ C category despite facing stiff challenges from other contenders.
In the opening day, Zulaikah who carded a gross score of 73 also registered similar score of 73 yesterday for a two-day score of 146 and she showed consistency in her second day game to widen the gap among those in the same group namely Noor Afrina Ibrahim who returned the day with 86 for a total score of 178 while Nicole Wong Yen Ping carded 91 strokes for a total score of 180.
In yesterday’s round, Mirabel also registered the same score she had on the first day which is 74 strokes for a total score of 148 to stay in contention as the top golfer to beat in her group which include Rania Rafify (181 strokes) and Ho Xunyi (225 strokes). The current leader in Girls’ B category, Angel Hii carded a gross score of 79 yesterday for a total score of 161 and closely followed by Angeline Jerembai Ong who carded 91 strokes for a total score of 182 while Amber Tho Eu Mei was third after carding 98 strokes for a total score of 202.
In the Boys’ Special category, Steven Hii who was leading in the opening day was upstaged by Mohd Amirul Fadhlan who staged a strong comeback yesterday and carded a gross score of 76 for a total score of 153 while Aziel Teo was trailing in second place on countback (OCB) ad currently in second placing. In Boys’ A category, Malcom Ting still took the lead after he carded a gross score of 76 yesterday for a total score of 149 while Ahmad Adib Ridhwan trailed in second placing with 78 strokes for a total score of 164.
In third placing was Foo Chee Ming after he returned the day with 85 strokes for a total score of 169. In the Boys’ B category, Derrick Kong took the lead from Elden Sim who fell to third place after he carded a gross score of 79 yesterday for a total score of 169 while Wesley Chai finished second with 81 strokes for a total score of 172. In Boys’ C category, Saxen Hii Shang Yao was still in the lead with a two-day score of 149 while Kulleh Tajang maintained his lead in Boys’ D category after he carded a twoday score of 187.
According to DGCC general manager, Roslan Mohd Salleh the closing and prize presentation ceremony will be held as soon as the final results are received before lunch time. He said the fine weather had facilitated the smooth running of the three-day event which is sanctioned by Sarawak Golf Association (SGA) where the majority of Sarawak juniors who are expected to compete in this year’s Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Perak are taking part.
“We have received good feedbacks from the participants who are satisfied with the challenging golf course and their results have shown quite an improvement as compared to the first day of competition,” he said.
