Asiad medal eludes Malixi

Rianne Malixi failed to make a last-ditch attempt to barge into the medal podium as she closed with a three-under par 67 to settle for fifth place with a total score of six-under 274 in the women’s stroke play event of the 20th Asian Games at the East Course of the Kasugai Country Club in Nagoya.

After being on the prowl in the first three rounds, the 19-year-old Duke University standout failed to sustain her momentum as Pranavi Sharath Urs of India finished with a total of 15-under 265 to secure the gold medal while Shannon Tan of Singapore registered 14-under 266 but beat six-time LPGA winner Yin Ruoning of China in the playoff to secure the silver medal.

The other Filipina in contention, former Asian Games gold medalist Bianca Pagdanganan, also failed to make an impact as she closed with three birdies for a one-over 71 for a total of three-over 283 that put her in a four-way tie for 15th place.

All in all, the Filipinas finished eighth in the team event with four-under 556 behind champion China, which posted 22-under 538, and India and Chinese Taipei, who registered 14-under 546 and 10-under 550, respectively.

Still, it was a painful loss for Malixi, who was bidding to become the next Filipina Asian Games gold medalist after Pagdanganan, Yuka Saso and Lois Kaye Go emerged as champions in 2018 in Jakarta.

After opening with an even-par 70, the rising star from Quezon City pulled off a four-under-76 and a three-under 77 to stay in the medal race.

But the Asian Games pressure was too overwhelming.

Starting at No. 10 in the pivotal final round, Malixi birdied three of the first six holes to stay in the hunt for a breakthrough medal. But disaster struck, and she bogeyed Nos. 1 and 3 before closing with back-to-back birdies to salvage some measure of pride, allowing the Indian to pull away with the victory and the Singaporean and the Chinese to dispute the silver medal in the playoff.