Anshul Mishra scripts history with top-10 finish at Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
Anshul Mishra became only the third Indian player to place within the top 10 at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and the first since Rayhan Thomas finished T-2 in 2018. Mishra carded a final round of 2-under 70 to finish the week at T-7 with a total score of 11 under par (72-69-68-70).
The other Indians who made the cut were Raghav Gulati (T-27), Rakshit Dahiya (T-42) and Ranveer Mitroo (T-48). Gulati carded 1-over 73 on the final day while Dahiya and Mitroo carded 5-over 77 and 4-over 76 respectively.
Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand, the highest ranked player in the field took advantage of his ability to hit big shots of the Tee with his driver to make the most of the back nine as he chased down Taisei Nagasaki of Japan to force a play-off despite starting the day with a six shot deficit.
Laopakdee beat his 16-year-old rival from Japan on the third hole of the play-off to become the first Thai player to win the Championship since its inaugural edition in 2009.
Laopakdee carded 4-under 68 in the final round compared to Nagasaki’s 2-over 74. He will become the second Thai player in history to compete at the Masters in 2026. He is also one of only five players who played below par for all four rounds this week.
In third place for the second year running was Rintaro Nakano of Japan. The fourth place was held by Harry Takis of Australia, the second highest WAGR ranked player in the field at the start of this week. Billy Dowling of Australia and Khanh Hung Le of Vietnam were tied for fifth.
Minsu Kim of Korea, Anshul Mishra of India, Seonghyeon An of Korea and Xihuan Chang of China were tied seventh to close off the top 10.
Anshul Mishra started the final day at T-10 and waited until the eighth hole to make his first par of the round. Mishra recorded eight birdies and six bogeys in his final round of the week to move up three positions on a day that saw many players struggle. Mishra was the second lowest ranked player among the top 10, only Seonghyeon An of Korea began the week ranked lower than Mishra as per WAGR.
Mishra considers this week a great boost to his confidence as he stated the result is confirmation of his belief that he can compete with the best players in the world.
He added, “It was just one of those days, it just happened. Like, it’s, I was playing the same exact golf, just trying to hit fairway – green and trying to make the putt or else move on with the par, but just dropped a lot of shots but then I gained so many as well.”
And, then he added, “I was thrilled to have shot eight birdies at the tough and challenging Majilis Course, which also hosts the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and where Rory McIlroy has won so many times.”
On the lessons, he learnt, Mishra said, “Firstly, like, I feel like, I managed the course pretty well this week, and it’s got something to do with just watching the pros play at DP World India Championship at the DGC last week. I learnt a lot from the way Rory (McIlroy) and Tommy Fleetwood played a course where I have played a lot of times.”
When asked if there was anything that he learnt during the week that would have helped him play better if he had known before, Mishra, 17, commented that if he knew he had the ability to make eight birdies in a single round on the Majilis he would have played with greater confidence during the week.
He also credited his learnings on how to manage a course to the fact that he had the opportunity to watch the DP World India Championships the week before the Championship.
Photo – AAC
