Atthaya Thithikul (Courtesy of Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific)

The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) is welcoming defending champion Atthaya Thithikul onto the entry list of the second edition of the tournament, which is to be held at the Royal Golf Club in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, from April 25 to 28.

Thailand’s Atthaya would be the highest ranked player in the tournament, in which 80 players from 20 Asia-Pacific countries are to participate, with her status as the current world number eight in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

“I am so excited to play in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific again. This year, I want to enjoy every moment of the championship and do my best. I am really looking forward to it,” Atthaya said in a statement.

“It means so much to me to have won the WAAP last year. It gave me invitations to many big tournaments and I feel like it has been a huge learning experience for me in my journey to become a professional golfer,” she added.

The Thai, who turns 16 on Wednesday, is to compete against Yuka Saso of the Philippines and Yuna Nishimura of Japan. Yuka is currently number 557 in the Women’s World Golf Ranking (WWGR), in which Nishimura is number 398.

The WAAP field is to consist of 15 players ranked among the top 100 of the WAGR. The largest contingent is the eight players from host nation Japan, while other players are to represent nations such as Bangladesh, Guam, Vietnam, Iran and the Cook Islands — countries where the women’s game is still in its infancy.

The champion at the Royal Golf Club is to earn a spot in two of the five women’s major championships — the AIG Women’s British Open and the Evian Championship. She would also receive an invitation to the 2020 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Atthaya, who created history in July 2017 when she became the youngest winner on the Ladies European Tour at the age of 14 at the Thailand Championship, enjoyed a phenomenal year as the WAAP champion. She was the leading amateur at the 2018 Women’s British Open and ANA Inspiration and was tied eighth in the HSBC Women’s World Championship — the three spots she secured as winner of the inaugural WAAP.

With the arrival of players like Atthaya in the tournament, Kei Muratsu, chairman of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, said the event had become one of the important tournaments on the world amateur golf agenda.

“Once again, we have the leading amateurs from this region taking part in the championship and the quality of the field shows how important the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship has already become within just one year of its inception,” Muratsu said.

“We are looking forward to welcoming all of our participants to Japan and have no doubt they will put up as impressive a show as they did last year in Singapore.”

Meanwhile, Indonesia has placed six golfers in the upcoming WAAP, led by Ribka Vania, who is ranked 643rd in the world.

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