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Qian triumphs in China Championship and earns return to Mission Hills

Female star Qian Pei-Yun from Chinese Taipei shot an outstanding final round five-under-par yesterday to beat a record Faldo Series Asia field of 138 competitors and win the China Championship on the Faldo Course at Mission Hills Golf Club.

Qian Pei-Yun (centre) with Xu De-Li (left), Vice-Chairman of the China Golf Association, and Tenniel Chu (right), Executive Director of Mission Hills

Trailing overnight by one following an opening 68, 18-year-old Qian followed one impressive round with another, carding a bogey-free 67 to finish on nine-under-par, three ahead of her compatriot and boys’ under-21 winner Guo Jia-Bin.

Qian and Guo can now look forward to a return trip to Mission Hills, home of the Faldo Series Asia, for the Grand Final in March 2010, hosted by six-time Major winner Nick Faldo. The Taiwanese pair will be joined by 15-year-old Xiao Yi, one of 75 entries from mainland China, who claimed the girls’ under-16 category with a 36-hole total of 148.

Zhou Pei of Hong Kong (boys’ under-18) and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Ding Sheng (boys’ under-16) also qualified for the Grand Final. Leading Chinese players Yao Xue-Feng (boys’ under-21), Jiang Shi-Hui (girls’ under-21), Wu Jian-Long (boys’ under-18) and Liu Yu-Xiang (boys’ under-16) received wild-card invites.

Supported by UBS, Mission Hills and The R&A, the China Championship was the fourth of 15 Faldo Series Asia tournaments in 12 different countries during 2009/2010, including four in mainland China plus one in each of Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam.

With over 1,000 competitors taking part and many more being introduced to the game, the climax of the season will be the fourth Grand Final in March 2010, an R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking event. As well as spending time with Faldo at Mission Hills in Shenzhen, over 60 finalists from across the region will compete for five invites to the Faldo Series Grand Final in Brazil plus the opportunity to play in a flagship Asian Tour or Ladies European Tour event for the overall boy and girl champion.

Hoping to win a hat-trick of Faldo Series Asia titles this season will be Rashid Khan of India. In March 2009 at Mission Hills, the 18-year-old from Delhi became the first player to successfully defend his Faldo Series Asia crown, replicating European Tour stars Nick Dougherty and Oliver Fisher, both of whom have been back-to-back winners of the Faldo Series in Europe since its launch in 1996.

LEADING FINAL SCORES:

Boys’ under-21: 138 – Guo Jiabin (68-70); 141 – Yao Xuefeng (70-71).

Boys’ under-18: 139 – Zhou Pei (67-72); 154 – Wu Jianlong (80-74).

Boys’ under-16: 142 – Lin Ding-Sheng (70-72); 144 – Liu Yu-Xiang (75-69).

Girls’ under-21: 135 – Qian Pei-Yun (68-67); 144 – Huang Shu-Huai (72-72).

Girls’ under-16: 148 – Xiao Yi (75-73); 149 – Peng Jie (77-72).

July 24, 2009