Published on October 2, 2017

Taipei, Chinese Taipei: Huang Kuan-hsun produced a high-class performance to claim an assured wire-to-wire victory in the Faldo Series Chinese Taipei Championship.
Living upto his billing as the top-ranked male player in the field at the sixth leg of the 2017-18 Faldo Series Asia season, Huang posted a three-day total of five-under-par 211 at Tsai Hsing Elite Club.
In the overall standings at the R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking event that was good enough for a five-stroke success from Mako Shapiyate and highly-rated females Tseng Tsai-ching and An Ho-yu.
It also secured him a passage to the 12th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final to be hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at Laguna Lăng Cô in Danang, Vietnam, in March, 2018.
Joining him there will be age group winners Zhang Ting-jia (Boys’ Under-18); Shapiyate (Boys’ Under-18); Tseng (Girls’ Under-18) and An (Girls’ Under-16).
Determined to improve on his third-place finish in the Boys’ Under-21 category last year, Huang laid down a marker when he opened with a three-under 69 to rise to the top of the leaderboard. It was a position he would not surrender.
A second-day 70 enabled him to consolidate his advantage and a birdie-three at the first hole in the final round further strengthened his grip on top spot.
Despite the best efforts of his pursuers to narrow the gap, Huang remained in control of his emotions to sign off with an even-par 72.
Although An’s hopes of adding another title to her collection fell short, she will be looking to extend the remarkable run of success that Chinese Taipei girls have enjoyed in the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.
Over the past decade, Tsai Pei-ying, Hsieh Yu-ling (twice), Lin Tzu-chi, Liu Yi-chen, Cheng Ssu-chia and Hung Jo-hua have all had their names inscribed on the Overall Girls’ trophy.
Winner of this year’s FCG Callaway World Championship in America and runner-up in the Annika Invitational at Mission Hills China, an event she won as a 12-year-old in 2016, An now has sights her set on joining that illustrious list when she lines up in Vietnam early next year.
Six-time Major championship winner Faldo, Britain’s most successful golfer, said: “Traditionally, players from Chinese Taipei have fared very well at the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final and based on the results from this year’s qualifier I expect to see their representatives in contention once more when we all meet up in Vietnam.”
The 2017-18 Faldo Series Asia season is supported by The R&A and endorsed by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation. The International Junior Golf Academy is a partner of the Faldo Series.
As well as two events in China, India and Thailand, championships are being staged in Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.