For somebody who won the tournament on her first try, Princess Superal didn’t look very confident going into title defense this year.
“I think that I’m kinda nervous going into this tournament,” said Superal in an interview ahead of the start of the Simone Asia Pacific Cup which kicks off Thursday at Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta.
“Just last year I won, there is an added pressure for me,” she admitted. “But just like what I did last year. I will just come here and enjoy the experience.”
Superal scripted a narrative of triumph, outshining luminaries like New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, Korean Hyo Joo Kim and Hinako Shibuno of Japan, to claim her maiden pro championship worth $100,000 in last year.
She won by three shots over former US Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu of South Korea in the meet’s maiden staging.
“The difference here is that we play as a team aside from individual,” she said. “We don’t get to play that a lot.”
In the individual category, she will be up against World No. 9 Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand and Japan’s Nasa Hataoka.
Superal, embracing the role of a key contender, has diligently prepared for the demanding battle head. She is flanked by a troika of equally talented compatriots — fellow ICTSI-backed Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina and Daniella Uy.
Superal and Pauline del Rosario finished second to Ryu and Bo Mee Lee last year.
Like Superal, the big-hitting Pagdanganan is also making a homecoming of sort to Pondok Indah, where she won the individual bronze and helped lift the Philippines to the gold medal finish in the Asian Games in 2018.
Ardina and Uy will make up the other Philippines squad in the 16-nation event that extends beyond individual performances with team dynamics also shaping the competitive landscape.
Meanwhile, Smart is facilitating live coverage of the event through its Smart Livestream app, available for free download on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
