Ushitora wins ETOKAI 12 Animals Golf Tournament 2021, 4-time defending champion Jajauma slips to 3rd position

144 Japanese golfers divided into six teams of 24 players each played in this tournament, which was to be initially organised in November last year but got postponed due to the Corona pandemic.

Sanjeev K Ahuja On Mar 6, 2022

ACN EXCLUSIVE:

NEW DELHI: The world’s unique Japanese-style zodiac signs based ETOKAI 2021, the 12 Animals Golf Tournament 2019 played in Gurugram (Gurgaon) on last Sunday witnessed a new winning team Ushitora with 152 points. In a major flip, the 4-time defending champion Jajauma team with 103 points was declared second runners-up (3rd position) while the Dorabi team with 122 points finished the first runners-up (2nd position) of the tournament in which a total of 144 Japanese golfers played.

Jajauma team has been the winner of the tournament since the year 2017 without a break as it won 2018 and 2919 tournaments also. The tournament could not be held in 2020 and 2021 because of the Corona pandemic. This team has won this tournament four times. It was declared the winner in the year 2014 when ETOKAI 12 Animal Golf Tournament was launched in India for the first time

A total of 144 Japanese golfers divided into 6 teams played the ETOKAI 2021

The last Sunday event was originally planned to happen in November 2021 but was postponed to February 27, 2022. This time, team Toriinu with 96 points, Inocyu with 84 points, and Youen with 16 points remained at the fourth, fifth, and sixth ranking.

Hirokazu Kamada (Gross 82), Hirohiko Tanaka (Gross 83), and Shigeki Okamoto (Gross 86) played the lead role in the surprise win of the Ushitora team led by its captain Akutsu san as they played extremely well on the windy Sunday.

Eiichiro Koga, the member of the winning team Ushitora who has been playing golf for 18 years said his team was not expecting to win the tournament initially but some of the players like Hirokazu Kamada, Hirohiko Tanaka, and Shigeki Okamoto played extremely well and helped in shaping the team’s victory.

“We as a team would practice together at least once a month and also meet frequently to have parties to create good teamwork. Though it was a windy day on Sunday when the tournament was played, we won because of the excellent teamwork. Hirokazu Kamada who scored a Gross score of 82 and a net score of 64.9 with 17.1 handicaps emerged as the best player of our team,” Eiichiro Koga said while talking to Asian Community News (ACN) Network.

However, Yuji Uchiyama of the Jajauma team emerged as the best player of the ETOKAI 2021tournament with a gross score of 79 and net of 79. And also Ms. Nana Takarabe of Jajauma only scored the best net score of

61.7 points. Ms. Nana Takarabe works with the AJU group of Japanese hotels that sponsored the tournament.

As many as 144 Japanese golfers including eight women divided into six teams of 24 players each played in ETOKAI 2021 tournament. Each team represented players with two zodiac signs. The Japanese zodiac known as Juunishi is divided into 12 signs with each sign representing a group of years.

Prakash Yadav, Founder & CEO, AJU Japanese Hotels that sponsored the event.

On this occasion, Prakash Yadav, Founder & CEO of AJU Group of Japanese Hotels announced prizes for the winners. He represented team Toriumi.

In his address to the contestants at the end of the tournament, Yadav reminded them of his four-year-old commitment of honoring the player with a complimentary trip to Thailand who would hit Hole-in-One.

“None, however, was able to hit Hole-in-One in last so many years. But there were prizes for the Longest Drive, Closest-to-the-Pin, etc, and they were given away with AJU meal vouchers worth Rs. 3000 or a free night stay at any of the AJU group hotels in India,” Yada added.

Sato Takeshi won AJU gift voucher for # 10 longest drive, Isonaga Takeshi #4 Closest to the Pin, Ms. Nana Takarabe for the best net score, and Yuji Uchiyama for the best gross score.