YUKA SASO could no longer be that typical teenager now that she has won one of the five Majors in women’s golf—the US Women’s Open she ruled via a third playoff hole on Sunday at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, USA.
The 19-year-old Saso, according to Bones Floro, remains that typically shy teenager who gets star-struck during certain occasions.
“I remember during a half-time ceremony in a PBA [Philippine Basketball Association] game in 2018 when Yuka and the other Jakarta Asian Games gold medalists were recognized, she asked me very shyly if I could help her get a photograph with Vice Ganda,” Floro, secretary general of the National Golf Association of the Philippines, told BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “I readily obliged.”
“And when several PBA players asked for a photo with her, she was very accommodating but still showed how shy she was,” said Floro, himself a noted junior and amateur golfer when he was young.
Floro said Saso is a simple, happy and generous young lady who loves K-Pop and follows Marvel Comics characters.
“She’s no prima donna despite her celebrity status as the country’s fast rising global women golfer,” Floro said. “Yuka remains the person that she is—selfless, considerate, humble and generous.”
An Olympics news site bared in an interview with Saso that she likes Korean girl groups Twice and Blackpink—but not an absolute BTS fan. She also loves Sam Smith and Daniel Padilla, while her favorite films are Lucy, Transformers, The Avengers, Batman and Spiderman.
“She is just an ordinary kid who loves cartoons,” Floro said. “She is a very happy and positive person, a very sweet girl.”
She likes daytime Filipino shows and she is very much in touch with what she did as a child, it works for her,” he added.
Floro said Saso shows concern for other people before herself.
“There was this one meal, Yuka didn’t start eating until everybody else were ready to eat,” he said. “She is selfless, generous. She is always prioritizing other people.”
Saso is half Japanese and half Filipino. Her dad, Masakazu, is always on her side when she plays in tournaments, while her mom, Fritzie, a native of San Ildefonso in Bulacan, stays at home in Tokyo.
Saso was born in the Philippines but moved to Japan when she was four. Her dad brought her to the driving range when she was four or five and since then, didn’t lose grip of the golf club.
She speaks a little Japanese, but is very fluent in Filipino.
ASSURED OF TICKETS TO TOKYO
ACCORDING to Bones Floro, Yuka Saso as well as Bianca Pagdanganan and Juvic Pagunsan are already assured of slots in the Tokyo Olympics.
“Yuka is now No. 9 in the world and she has practically secured her ticket to Tokyo,” Floro said.
Pagdanganan, Saso’s teammate when she won the individual and team gold medals in the Jakarta Asian Games, is ranked No. 41, while Pagunsan is No. 50 in the men’s side.
“It’s all about formality. We’re just waiting for the June 22 deadline or the Olympic cutoff,” Floro said. “They are not announcing it yet because it’s not a deadline yet.”
The top 60 golfers in the men and women divisions will qualify for the Olympics.
“All three of them have a very real chance of podium finishes,” Floro said. “Medals are within their reach.”
Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino believes Saso has the biggest chance of winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal.
“She has a big chance in Tokyo because she’ll most likely compete against the same opponents she faced in the US Open,” Tolentino said. “Her confidence level is high, and that’s an extra advantage. It gives us additional chances to win medals or the Olympic gold medals.”
Image courtesy of AP
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