Championships

Wan knocks out top qualifier at Girls’ Amateur

The R&A

11 Aug 22

3 mins

Amelia Wan enjoyed a superb victory to advance in the R&A Girls’ Amateur Championship at Carnoustie.

For the first time, the match play stages of the Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur are being played simultaneously at one venue over the famous links. Under wonderful blue sky in Angus, with just a light breeze, English player Wan was in the first match out at 7am and knocked out the leading stroke play qualifier, Paula Martin Sampedro, to reach the last-16 in the girls’ championship.

Major inspiration

“I didn’t make that many mistakes on the front nine but Paula did make a few,” said Wan. “On the back nine she just steadied up and started holing all of her birdie putts. It was expected so I just had to keep it steady. “We went to watch the AIG Women’s Open after the Girls’ Home Internationals and it was tough out there. I was just hoping it would be a bit easier here and it is. It’s still really tough for scoring but it’s such a nice course and I’m really grateful to be here.” The second round of match play in the Girls’ Amateur took place in the morning – ahead of the boys competing in the afternoon – with the opening tie seeing an impressive 2&1 win for Wan, 15, over Martin Sampedro from Spain.

English challenge alive

There was more success for English players, as Lottie Woad, Maggie Whitehead, Cherry Marley, Rachel Gourley and Ellise Rymer all progressed to the last-16. After yesterday’s impressive victory against Meja Ortengren – the competitor with the highest ranking on the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) – Wales’ Emily James continued her form by clinching a win against Andrea Revuelta on the 19th hole.

Avani Prashanth, 15, the only Indian competitor left in the field, produced an excellent 5&4 win over Fleur van Beek of the Netherlands.

Prashanth Carnoustie confidence

Avani Prashanth, 15, the only Indian competitor left in the field, produced an excellent 5&4 win over Fleur van Beek of the Netherlands. Eila Galitsky, the sole player from Thailand, also performed well in her match against France’s Constance Fouillet, winning 4&2. “I’m feeling great,” said Prashanth. “It was a great round but tough in a lot of places. I holed a lot of putts today so it was absolutely fantastic playing and I hope to carry the form out to the next couple of rounds. “Carnoustie lives up to being the toughest links in the world. I agree with that because it is very punishing in a lot of places. But I’m absolutely enjoying it. It’s a great experience getting to play here and I hope to make it to the final and conquer Carnoustie.” Galitsky added, “I didn’t drive so well but I feel like my approach shots were a lot better today. I think my putting was also improved today, I wouldn’t say very good as I did miss a few putts, but it was pretty good. “It lessens the pressure here because Carnoustie is one of the hardest courses in the world. If I do bad, it is what it is, so it takes a lot of pressure off.”

Big Spanish win

The biggest win in the last-32 ties came from Paula Francisco, with the Spaniard defeating Rebekah Gardner from Ireland 6&4. The last-16 ties for the Girls’ Amateur take place tomorrow, along with the last-32 and last-16 matches for the Boys’ Amateur. For the first time, the 36-hole finals of both championships on Sunday will be live streamed at Carnoustie and can be watched on The R&A’s website at www.randa.org as well as on The R&A YouTube channel. The Girls' and Boys' Amateur championships are supported by EventScotland. The match play draws, live blog and scoring are also available at www.randa.org