Wellington, Feb 15 (IANS) Guntas Sandhu braved the gusting wind and carded 5-over 77 on a day when scoring was very difficult at the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP).

That saw her total 4-over for four days, but the young teen star did well to finish Tied-20th, the best among Indians.

Her teammate Ananyaa Sood (82) also struggled and ended at 14-over total for T-42 place.

Korea’s Yunseo Yang repelled the challenge of compatriot Soomin Oh to write her name into the record books as the first Korean winner of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP).

Coping admirably with gusting southerly winds that blew many players off course, 18-year-old Yang closed with a three-under-par 69 at Royal Wellington, the best round of a day that saw just three-sub-par returns.

With a 72-hole aggregate of 16-under 272, Yang ended eight strokes clear of Oh, matching the WAAP’s record winning margin set by Japan’s Yuka Yasuda in 2019. She is also the first player to win the championship having held the solo lead after all four rounds

Yang tied for fourth in last year’s WAAP in Vietnam.

Thanks to her success, Yang has earned exemptions into three major championships in 2026 – the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, The Amundi Evian Championship in France and the Chevron Championship in the United States – as well as a handful of elite amateur events.

In winning, Yang ended Korea’s victory drought in the region’s pre-eminent women’s amateur championship. Previously, Minsol Kim (2023), Hyosong Lee (2024) and Oh last year all had to settle for second place.

–IANS

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