They call Hoi An the "city of lanterns" and it was former Australian Junior champion Jeneath Wong who shone brightest en route to winning the seventh edition of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship.

With a skilful and courageous display of front-running, the 20-year-old wrote her name into the record books as the first Malaysian winner of the region’s pre-eminent women’s amateur championship.

Three shots clear of the field overnight, Melboune-based Wong, who has won multiple club championships at The Metropolitan Golf Club, illuminated Hoiana Shores Golf Club with an unflustered closing round of three-under-par 68 – her fourth successive sub-70 return over the links-style layout.

After a tense and intriguing battle with Korean playing partners Soomin Oh and Sumin Hong that went right down to the wire, it was the diminutive Malaysian who was walking tallest.

Tied at the top with World Amateur Golf Ranking No.9 Oh with two holes remaining, two-time All-American Wong, who is in her third year at Pepperdine University in California and is nicknamed ‘Pocket Dynamite’, found another gear.

With Oh and Hong within birdie range at the par-3 17th, Wong launched a stunning seven-iron that came within inches of a hole-in-one, a tap-in birdie enabling her to regain a one-stroke lead to take to the par-5 last hole.

While Oh made the green in two and had a 12-metre putt for eagle, Wong was 30 metres short of the putting surface.

From there she struck a precise pitch for her third shot, her ball coming to rest a metre below the hole.

After watching Oh’s attempt for a three slip agonisingly past the cup, Wong coolly slotted home her birdie putt to set the seal on one of the finest-ever performances by a Malaysian amateur.

Having been embraced by her local caddie, Wong was then engulfed by her Malaysian team-mates and members of the Australian team with whom she grew up, having moved to Melbourne when she was ten.

With rounds of 65-69,-64-68, Wong’s 72-hole aggregate of 18-under 266 was the lowest winning total in WAAP history, surpassing the 270 total of Chinese Taipei’s Chun-wei Wu in Thailand last year.

“It’s unreal. I’m in shock,” said Wong, who received the Rae-Vadee T. Suwan champion’s medal and earns places in three major championships in 2025 – the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, The Chevron Championship in Texas and Amundi Evian Championship in France.

“It’s really exciting, giving me the experience to play in those top LPGA tournaments that I want to play in the future."

Wong already has considerable top-level experience having competed in the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2023, also reaching the match play stages of The 120th Women’s Amateur, US Women’s Amateur and US Girls’ Junior that year.

As well as having won the Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs in 2022 and the Australian Girls’ Amateur in both 2021 and 2022, Wong’s impressive curriculum vitae includes an individual bronze and team silver medal with Malaysia at the 2022 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Vietnam.

Australian Jazy Roberts tied for fourth on 270 after closing with a 66 while Sarah Hammett climbed into the top 10 at -9 after a final round of 68.

The other Australians to make the cut were Lion Higo (T7, 7-under), Hannah Reeves (T25, 3-under) and Ella Scaysbrook (T42, 6-over).