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27 July 2007, Shenzhen, China: Female star Xu Yue from Beijing won the opening event of the Faldo Series Asia 2007 season yesterday – the China championship at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen – with a 36-hole total of 144 for a one shot victory over Boys Under 21 winner Xiao Jie Yi.
18-year-old Xu Yue, who only took up golf five years ago, shot the lowest round of the tournament on day one with a sizzling six-under-par 66 that included five birdies and one eagle on the highly-acclaimed Faldo course. She could not repeat that form in round two but a six-over 78 was still enough to earn her the Girls’ Under 18 gold medal and the overall champion’s trophy.
Xu Yue’s reward is a trip back to Mission Hills on December 12-14 to play in the 2007 Faldo Series Asia grand final and spend time with six-time Major winner Nick Faldo himself. Joining Xu at the grand final on the Faldo course will be the other age division winners: Xiao Jie Yi (Boys Under 21); Li Jia Yun (Girls Under 21); Ye Jian Wei (Boys Under 18); Huang Guang Dian (Boys Under 16); and Wang Xin (Girls Under 16).
Commented Xu Yue: “I played really well for my 66 and had some lucky breaks as well. I was more nervous in the final round but I’m still very happy to be the champion. I can’t wait for the grand final in December so I can test myself against some of the best golfers in Asia and meet Nick Faldo.”
Supported by Mission Hills, The R&A and UBS, the aim of the Faldo Series Asia is to develop tomorrow’s champions. During the China championship, close to 100 leading young golfers from mainland China and some from overseas, boys and girls aged under 21, experienced 36 holes under strict tournament conditions on the highly-acclaimed Faldo course, while off the course they received expert advice from Cindy Reid, the number 1 female golf instructor who, with Mission Hills, has created her first golf academy in China, the ‘Mission Hills Golf Academy by Cindy Reid’. Local children were also invited to attend a clinic with Cindy Reid and watch the players in action as part of Nick Faldo’s drive to simultaneously increase access to the sport at a grass-roots level.
Also backed by Korn/Ferry International, the China championship was the first of 11 Faldo Series Asia events in 2007 in nine different countries, including three in China plus one in each of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and UAE.
Sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, over 60 of Asia’s brightest prospects will qualify for the 2007 Faldo Series Asia grand final (Mission Hills, December 12-14). Not only will they have the opportunity to learn from six-time Major winner Nick Faldo himself; they will also be hoping to follow in the footsteps of the 2006 champion, 18-year-old Nakarin Ratanakul of Thailand, whose victory earned him a game with Faldo, a place in the Faldo Series grand final in Europe and, courtesy of the Asian Tour, a start in the Volvo Masters of Asia and a scholarship to stage one of Asian Tour qualifying school.
Results: Boys Under 21: 145 – Xiao Jie Yi (68, 77); 147 – Guo Xin (72, 75). Girls Under 21: 154 – Li Jia Yun (75, 79). Boys Under 18: 156 – Ye Jian Wei (78, 78); 157 – Xie Zhi (78, 79). Girls Under 18: 144 – Xu Yue (66, 78); 181 – Qin Qian Hui (89, 92). Boys Under 16: 147 – Huang Guang Dian (71, 76); 150 – He Da Wei (81, 69). Girls Under 16: 148 – Wang Xin (78, 70); 158 – Yun Ying Zhou (80, 78). |