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Before the big pool comes The Amundi Evian Juniors Cup.

July 07, 2023 | R. Forgues

COMPETITION

To climb the ladder step by step, many have cut their teeth on the junior circuits.  Some of them have been lucky enough to walk along the fairways of the Evian Resort Golf Club during their first international tournaments.  Since 2007, The Amundi Evian Juniors Cup is an event which brings together world’s top under-14 amateurs.


 It traditionally takes place in September.  Young talents come from the four corners of the globe to play under their country’s colors. Once again this year, several players in The Amundi Evian Championship field were first participants in this unforgettable competition.

1. Aditi Ashok (IND)

Aditi Ashok turned pro in 2016 joining the Ladies European Tour, before becoming a member of the LPGA Tour the following season, and is now one of the players we are used to seeing compete at the top tournaments. The 25-year-old Indian player enjoyed a brilliant amateur career before joining the elite.  She participated three years in a row (2010, 2011 and 2012) in The Amundi Evian Juniors Cup and was victorious three times at the National Junior Championships, before winning the double Juniors and Adults in 2014. She now has six professional titles and recently participated at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, where she just missed out on a medal.

2. Pauline Roussin (FRA)
The major aside, Pauline is certainly one of the players who has competed in the most competitions at Evian.  It’s simple: she has played in them all.  After winning the 2011 and 2012 Haribo Kids Cup, she played at The Amundi Evian Juniors Cup in 2014, proudly defendeding France’s colours before here home crowd.  She continued a few years later with The Amundi Evian U18, an event in which she almost tasted victory and finished on the third step of the podium.  She seemed predestined for what was to follow, joining “grown-ups” in 2019 for The Amundi Evian Championship, before continuing on in the 2021 and 2022 events.  This year means she will be taking part in her fourth Evian major, her best performance here was 38th place in 2021.

3. Mao Saigo (JAP)
Although she participated in the 2015 Amundi Evian Juniors Cup, the young Japanese player's best memories of Evian are undoubtedly of the 2022 major.  For her first appearance at The Amundi Evian Championship, she achieved a fantastic 3rd place, tied with some of the world’s top players:  Lydia Ko, Kyo Joo Kim, Carlota Ciganda… Since 2020 when she turned professional, she plays on the LPGA of Japan Tour where she is improving year on year.  Thanks to her excellent start to 2022, during which she won three of the first five tournaments of the season, she even made it to 21st place in the world rankings.  Today back in 58th place, she continues to gain experience by at the very least participating in each of the five majors.


4. Leona Maguire (IRL)
Golf is definitely a family sport for Leona.  Her sister, Lisa, was also herself a professional player before cutting the cord in 2019.  The former student at Duke University (North Carolina, USA), who played on the Symetra Tour – the antechamber to the LPGA Tour, now known as the Epson Tour – make her family proud by pursuing her career at the top level.  In 2007, the young Leona discovered the idyllic setting of Evian at The Amundi Evian Juniors Cup.  A very special experience for her as she had abandoned swimming, her other sporting passion, a year earlier, to concentrate on golf.  Defending her country’s colors, the Irishwoman, then aged 12, made a first dream come true, far from imagining the long and successful career that would follow.  She is currently the world number 10 and will be taking part in fourth The Amundi Evian Championship.


5. Celine Borge (NOR)
By gaining the right to play on the LPGA Tour, Celine Borge has moved into another league this season.  After four seasons on the Epson Tour, here she is now every week participating in the most competitive tournaments in women’s world golf.  After turning pro in 2018, she has still not played the major but has nevertheless had a taste of Evian, during the 2012 Amundi Evian Juniors Cup.  The 24-year-old Norwegian, the winner of two professional tournaments, is rather discreet in the media and prefers to concentrate on what matters to her: the quality of her game and reaching her goals.  In a documentary produced by Epson for whom she has become an ambassador, she disclosed last May just how much of a dream the LPGA Tour was for her.  Now it’s time to dream even biggher.

6. Rose Zhang (USA)
The last player on this list probably doesn't  need an introduction. Rose Zhang’s rise continues to dazzle the world of women’s golf since her resounding 11th place at the ANA Inspiration 2020. She who reigned supreme in the world of amateur golf decided to turn pro at the end of May. Since then, after the usual leaders on the LPGA Tour, she is definitely the one who is being talked about the most: about her and her 45th place in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings achieved in less than a month.  This season, Rose has only participated in two LPGA Tour events: the Mizuho Americas Open, her first tournament as a pro, which she won, and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a major in which she came in at 8th place. For her third participation in The Amundi Evian Championship, the presence of the young 20-year-old prodigy will obviously be highly awaited, as her capacity for progression is immense.  To date, her best performance in Evian is 58th place, achieved at the 2021 event.  The Champions Course is a course she has experience of since 2017, when she took part in The Amundi Evian Juniors Cup.

# COMPETITION

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