The 2018 Amata Friendship Cup (; ) was the first edition of the Amata Friendship Cup matches, held 21–23 December at the Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand. The Amata Friendship Cup is a team competition between the top mixed-gender professional and amateur golfers from Thailand and Japan. It is a three-day match play event between teams of twelve players with a similar format to the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup. Boonchu Ruangkit and Virada Nirapathpongporn captained the Thai team and Naomichi Ozaki and Miho Koga captained the Japanese team.

Team Thailand won by a score of 15–13.

Format The Amata Friendship Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The format is as follows: Day 1 (Friday): Four foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and four fourball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session. Day 2 (Saturday): Four foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and four fourball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session. Day 3 (Sunday): 12 singles matches. All 12 players from each team participate.

Teams Each team consisted of five male professionals, five female professionals, one male and one female amateur.

Team Thailand Team ThailandMale professionals Player Age Worldranking 29 38 23 125 52 299 49 438 34 493Female professionals Player Age Rolexranking 23 1 24 20 29 50 26 94 20 160Male amateur Player Age WAGRranking 20 13Female amateur Player Age WAGRranking 15 8

Team Japan Team JapanMale professionals Player Age Worldranking 29 47 25 113 36 171 40 172 25 215Female professionals Player Age Rolexranking 19 7 24 142 20 59 26 118 19 132Male amateur Player Age WAGRranking 20 454Female amateur Player Age WAGRranking 18 67

Day one Friday, 21 December 2018

Morning foursomes The opening round of four fourball matches started at 7:15 am local time. The first point of the 2018 Amata Friendship Cup was won by Team Japan, with Ryuko Tokimatsu and Erika Hara winning 6 & 5 against Prayad Marksaeng and Moriya Jutanugarn. Prom Meesawat and Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras came from two down after the fourth and fifth hole to beat Masahiro Kawamura and Mami Fukuda two up. Jaidee and Thidapa Suwannapura also won by one against Kodai Ichihara and Sakura Koiwai one up. In the last match, Aphibarnrat and Thitikul won the seventeenth hole to halve Satoshi Kodaira and Yuri Yoshida, and to end the first morning 2–1 in favour of Team Thailand.

Results Marksaeng/M.Jutanugarn 6 & 5Tokimatsu/HaraMeesawat/Thanapolboonyaras 2 upKawamura/FukudaJaidee/Suwannapura 1 upIchihara/KoiwaiAphibarnrat/ThitikulhalvedKodaira/Yoshida2 Session1 2 Overall1

Afternoon four-ball The afternoon session was won by team Thailand. It started at 12:00 pm local time. Jazz Janewattananond and Pornanong Phatlum won 3 & 2 over Hideto Tanihara and Nasa Hataoka, Prayad Marksaeng and Ariya Jutanugarn won the last hole to halve Kodai Ichihara and Fumika Kawagishi, Ryuko Tokimatsu and Erika Hara won for the second time, this time 4 & 3 over Prom Meesawat/Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras. The fourt pairing, Sadom Kaewkanjana and Moriya Jutanugarn won over Yuto Katsuragawa and Sakura Koiwai one up. Results Janewattananond/Phatlum 3 & 2Tanihara/HataokaMarksaeng/A.JutanugarnhalvedIchihara/KawagishiMeesawat/Thanapolboonyaras 4 & 3Tokimatsu/HaraKaewkanjana/M.Jutanugarn 1 upKatsuragawa/Koiwai2Session1 5 Overall 3

Day two Saturday, 22 December 2018

Morning foursomes Results Jaidee/Suwannapura 3 & 2Kawamura/HaraMeesawat/Thanapolboonyaras 1 upTokimatsu/HataokaJanewattananond/A.Jutanugarn 7 & 5Kodaira/KoiwaiKaewkanjana/Phatlum 6 & 5Katsuragawa/Fukuda3Session18 Overall4

Afternoon four-ball Results Janewattananond/M.Jutanugarn 2 & 1Kawamura/KawagishiJaidee/Phatlum 1 upIchihara/FukudaAphibarnrat/A.Jutanugarn 2 & 1Kodaira/HataokaMarksaeng/Thitikul 5 & 3Tanihara/Yoshida 2Session 2 10 Overall 6

Day three Sunday, 23 December 2018

Singles Results Sadom Kaewkanjana 1 upYuto KatsuragawaAtthaya Thitikul 1 upYuri YoshidaJazz Janewattananond 1 upKodai IchiharaPannarat Thanapolboonyaras 1 upErika HaraProm MeesawathalvedRyuko TokimatsuThidapa Suwannapura 2 upSakura KoiwaiThongchai Jaidee 3 & 2Masahiro KawamuraPornanong Phatlum 5 & 3Fumika KawagishiPrayad MarksaenghalvedHideto TaniharaMoriya Jutanugarn 1 upMami FukudaKiradech Aphibarnrat 1 upSatoshi KodairaAriya Jutanugarn 3 & 1Nasa Hataoka 5Session 7 15 Overall 13

Individual player records Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.

Thailand Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsJazz Janewattananond 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0Kiradech Aphibarnrat 2.5 2–0–1 1–0–0 0–0–1 1–0–0Ariya Jutanugarn 2.5 2–1–1 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–1Prom Meesawat 2.5 2–1–1 0–0–1 2–0–0 0–1–0Moriya Jutanugarn 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 2–0–0Sadom Kaewkanjana 2 2–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–0Pornanong Phatlum 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0Thidapa Suwannapura 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–0Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 2–0–0 0–1–0Atthaya Thitikul 1.5 1–1–1 1–0–0 0–0–1 0–1–0Thongchai Jaidee 1 1–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–1–0Prayad Marksaeng 1 0–2–2 0–0–1 0–1–0 0–1–1

Japan Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsErika Hara 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–0Ryuko Tokimatsu 2.5 2–1–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 1–0–0Mami Fukuda 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 1–0–0Masahiro Kawamura 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–1–0Kodai Ichihara 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–1Fumika Kawagishi 1.5 1–1–1 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–1Hideto Tanihara 1.5 1–1–1 0–0–1 0–0–0 1–1–0Yuri Yoshida 1.5 1–1–1 0–1–0 0–0–1 1–0–0Nasa Hataoka 1 1–3–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–2–0Yuto Katsuragawa 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Satoshi Kodaira 0.5 0–3–1 0–1–0 0–1–1 0–1–0Sakura Koiwai 0 0–4–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–1–0

Partners 2018 Amata Friendship Cup partnersTierSponsoring firmsPresentingToyotaPlatinumSingha Corporation, Siam Commercial BankGoldSiam Cement Group, Tourism Authority of Thailand (under the slogan Amazing Thailand), International Sports Promotion SocietySilverPPTV HD 36, Fenix XCell, Ricoh

References

External links