SEOUL, Republic of Korea — The two-seed Japan Team and third-seed Republic of Korea Team are facing off in the third four-ball session of the 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown on Saturday at New Korea Country Club. Take a deeper look at one of the two matches that are taking place between these respective squads and what each country needs to do to move on to Sunday play in the Republic of Korea.

Saturday, 10 a.m. – Mao Saigo/Miyu Yamashita vs. Hyo Joo Kim/Hye-Jin Choi

Both the Republic of Korea and Japan Teams have work to do on Saturday at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown to earn their spot in the semifinal matches that are set to take place on Sunday morning at New Korea Country Club.

Korea needs 1.5 points to clinch their spot, but Japan must sweep both Saturday four-ball matches if they want a chance to do the same.

Mao Saigo and Miyu Yamashita are set to go against Hyo Joo Kim and Hye-Jin Choi in the second Japan-Korea matchup in the third four-ball session of the week in the Republic of Korea. It’s the first time that Saigo and Yamashita have played together, as the former was paired with Ayaka Furue for the first two days of four-ball and the latter played with her fellow rookie Rio Takeda.

Saigo and Furue lost both of their opening matches at New Korea Country Club as partners, while Yamashita and Takeda tied with World Team members Charley Hull and Lydia Ko on Thursday and then beat Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom and Ingrid Lindblad 3 and 2 on Friday.

Kim and Choi won, 3 and 2, over Swedes Maja Stark and Linn Grant in the first session, but they fell to Hull and Ko in the Friday four-ball on the final hole after the World Team made birdie to win, 1 up.

Saigo, Yamashita and Kim are all major champions, winning the 2025 Chevron Championship, the 2025 AIG Women’s Open and the 2014 Amundi Evian Championship, respectively. Choi has yet to secure her first LPGA Tour victory, but she has amassed 28 top-10 results since joining the Tour in 2022.

Day Three Featured Match: 2025 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown

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