Defending champ Lin, World No 1 Nakajima ready for titanic battle

The Indian team will be announced shortly.The 21-year-old Beijing-born Lin won his first title in 2017 at Royal Wellington by three shots after closing with a birdie and an eagle, and then reclaimed the crown from Japans Takumi Kanaya when he defeated him in a playoff in Shanghai.Lin and Japans reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama 2010 and 2011 are the only players to have won multiple AAC titles.It would be a dream-come-true if I can win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship for a third time.

China's defending champion Yuxin Lin will aim for an unprecedented third Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) title, but for that to happen, he will have to beat the in-form Japanese world No.1 Keita Nakajima and the cream of region's talent.

The 12th edition of the championship is set to be held from November 3-6 at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

A team of six Indians will also be taking part in the event. The Indian team will be announced shortly.

The 21-year-old Beijing-born Lin won his first title in 2017 at Royal Wellington by three shots after closing with a birdie and an eagle, and then reclaimed the crown from Japan's Takumi Kanaya when he defeated him in a playoff in Shanghai.

Lin and Japan's reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (2010 and 2011) are the only players to have won multiple AAC titles.

''It would be a dream-come-true if I can win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship for a third time. To be already placed in the same bracket as Hideki Matsuyama as two-time champion is surreal, so to get one ahead would be amazing,'' said Lin.

While Lin is currently eyeing a return to form with his last win coming in March 2020 at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, Nakajima has been an unstoppable force in his home country. In his last three starts, he has won the Japan Amateur Championship, followed by last week's triumph at the Panasonic Open against a quality field of professionals on the Japan Golf Tour.

''I am a college-going amateur so it is an honour that I get the chance of playing against the professionals. I feel it provides me with a great challenge to compete against them and that it has helped me become a better player,'' said Nakajima.

Created in 2009 by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the Masters Tournament and The R&A, the AAC was established to further develop amateur golf in the region. The champion receives an invitation to compete in the Masters Tournament and The Open, while the runner(s)-up gain a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.

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