Tiranun, Rungthiwa lead Thai charge in Shanghai

Written by Admin on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

Tiranun, Rungthiwa lead Thai charge in Shanghai

KITTIPONG THONGSOMBAT

Tiranun Yoopan and Rungthiwa Pangjan will be competing in the 2008 Binhai Open which tees off tomorrow in Shanghai.

They are the only Thai hopefuls among 122 golfers with compatriots Pornanong Platlum and Porani Chutichai in the United States for LPGA qualifying tournaments.

The three-round tournament is the third leg of the Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) with Pornanong the money leader after her wins in the first two tournaments in Thailand and India.

The Binhai Open is also sanctioned by the Ladies European Golf Tour (LEGT) and China Golf Association.

Tiranun, 20, has been in good form this year winning the Chang Lamphun Championship and the Taiwan LPGA tournament in March and June respectively. In last year’s Binhai Open, Tiranun finished tied 58th.Rungthiwa, 19, is hoping to do better than last year when she missed the cut.

Without Pornanong, defending champion Na Da-ye of Korea and local stars Wang Chun and Zhong Xiaolong are favourites.

The 20-year-old Na, who won last year’s title by two shots, aims to become the first player to successfully defend the crown at Binhai which offers a total purse of US$300,000, the biggest on the Tour.

Golfers who perform well in the tournament could be selected to play in next month’s Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China, where former world number one Annika Sorenstam will play her final competitive event before retirement.