Anshul finishes 9th, Zara 10th at Asia Pacific junior golf

Manila (Philippines), Sep 7 (PTI) Teenager Zara Anand secured a top-10 finish at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Junior Championships.

Zara carded a bogey-free final round of 1-under 71, with a birdie and 17 pars in a steady round.

Zara, with 74-74-71, was T-10, while her teammate Keerthana Rajiv Nair (81-75-72) was 20th.

The Indian boys Anshul Mishra and Ranveer Mitroo also finished i. Mishra, who shot 72-74-73, was tied-ninth, and Mitroo (74-75-71) was T-11.

As a team, Zara and Mitroo were T-10, while Mishra and Keerthana were 17th.

Hong Kong’s Arianna Lau pulled off a successful title defence in the girls’ section.

The teenager returned a closing four-under-par 68 over the Legends Course at the Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club to complete a stunning wire-to-wire victory.

Just nine days before turning 17, Lau turned heads as she emphatically staved off high-class Korean pursuers Oh Soo-min and Jung Min-seo.

With her 15-under aggregate of 201, Lau ended five shots clear of runner-up Oh and six ahead of third-placed Jung.

Teerawut Boonseeor outgunned An Seong-hyeon in an epic final-day shootout to claim a famous victory in the boy section.

The 15-year-old Teerawut became the first Thai to have his name inscribed on the trophy.

A shot ahead of his Korean rival heading into the final round, Teerawut closed with a six-under-par 66.

With a 10-under-par total of 206, he ended two strokes in front of An, who signed off with a 67.

Between them, the duo made no fewer than 16 birdies on the last day (nine to Teerawaut and seven to An) and had a better ball of 60.

Teerawut’s compatriot Siwakorn Kriangkrai kept pace for much of the day before faltering late to finish third on 211.