As the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship tees off tomorrow at the Singapore Island Country Club, some of the best players in the region are drawing on a winning mentality to motivate them at the prestigious championship.

India’s Avani Prashanth, who became the talk of the region with her sensational 10-shot win at last month’s Queen Sirikit Cup in the Philippines, is hoping a similar mindset will help her continue that form and win the WAAP.

Calling it a “bookmark championship” of her season, the 16-year-old Prashanth will take on a quality field of 85 players from 22 countries. Including Prashanth, who jumped to number 77 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) after her Queen Sirikit triumph, there are 18 top-100 players competing this week.

The Bengaluru-based Prashanth is known for hitting the ball a long way, but her recent win by a record margin was because of better use of brain than brawn.

“I had a pretty good week at the Queen Sirikit Cup. But regardless of whether I have a good or a bad week, I sit and analyse it with my dad. We look at areas we need to improve on, and there was some even from that week,” said Prashanth.

“So, I have worked on those parts and I’m looking forward to keeping the same game plan – not to take any risks, and yet play my usual aggressive game. I played smart in Manila, which is what I need to do this week.”

Chinese Taipei’s Ting-Hsuan Huang is the defending champion. The 18-year-old won the title in sensational fashion last year at Siam Country Club in Thailand when she mounted a late charge and made six birdies in her last 11 holes on Sunday.

That win got her exemptions into three Major championships this year – AIG Women’s Open, the Amundi Evian Championship and the Chevron Championship – as well as the Hana Financial Group Championship and an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women's Amateur (ANWA).

“This week, I am just going to enjoy playing with my partners and just have fun,” said the ever calm and composed Huang. “The challenge for us this week is that we have to push our own trolleys and the golf course is very hilly. I just want to stay hydrated and not get impatient.”

Minsol Kim, the highest-ranked Korean in the field at No 15 on the WAGR, finished sixth individually in the Queen Sirikit Cup. She will not be short of motivation after watching her idol and mentor Jin Young Ko win the HSBC Women’s Championship last week, just a few miles down the road.

“We shared a room in Vietnam where the Korean national team was doing its winter training, and I asked her a lot of questions. Not only am I personally close to her, she’s also someone I really respect and admire. She is one of the top players in the world, but it’s her hard work and her attitude towards golf that is inspirational for me,” said Kim, who opened with a 64 in the LPGA’s BMW Ladies Championship last year and finished inside the top-10.

“She makes me want to practice harder and focus more on my game. I was watching her winning last week in Singapore and since I know how much she was struggling (with an injury last year), I was also crying with her.”

Prashanth and Kim have been paired together for the first two rounds, alongside the highest-ranked player in the field, World No 4 Rin Yoshida of Japan. The group is scheduled to tee off at 8.36am tomorrow. Huang is paired with Vivian Lu of New Zealand and Jiyoo Lim of Korea and will tee off at 12.14pm in the first round.

In the first four editions, players from Thailand (Atthaya Thitikul), Japan (Yuka Yasuda and Mizuki Hashimoto) and Chinese Taipei (Ting-Hsuan Huang) have held aloft the sought-after trophy.

The WAAP championship was developed by The R&A and the APGC to inspire future generations of women golfers. The R&A is supported by championship event partners that share its commitment to developing golf in Asia-Pacific. The Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship is proudly supported by Rolex, Nippon Kabaya Ohayo Holdings, Hana Financial Group and Samsung.

For more information on the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific championship, visit www.randa.org/WAAP.