Kyoraku Cup Friday: Itai! Itai! Itai!

The 1st day of the Kyoraku Cup is complete and here are the results, along with my predictions:

So Yeon Ryu (72) v. Yuri Fudoh (74) [adv. Korea] Korea 2-Japan 0
Jeoung-Eun Lee (73) v. Akiko Fukushima (74) [adv. Japan] Korea 4-Japan 0
Bo-Bae Song (66) v. Miho Koga (72) [toss-up] Korea 6-Japan 0
Mi-Jeong Jeon (72) v. Erina Hara (74) [adv. Korea] Korea 8-Japan 0
Ji-Hee Lee (68) v. Momoko Ueda (71) [toss-up] Korea 10-Japan 0
Eun-A Lim (74) v. Miki Saiki (71) [toss-up] Korea 10-Japan 2
Eun-Hee Ji (70) v. Ai Miyazato (72) [adv. Japan] Korea 12-Japan 2
Hee Kyung Seo (68) v. Sakura Yokomine (70) [toss-up] Korea 14-Japan 2
Na Yeon Choi (69) v. Yukari Baba (73) [adv. Korea] Korea 16-Japan 2
Ji-Yai Shin (71) v. Ayako Uehara (72) [adv. Korea] Korea 18-Japan 2
In-Kyung Kim (70) v. Chie Arimura (72) [toss-up] Korea 20-Japan 2
Bo Mi Lee (71) v. Shinobu Moromizato (67) [adv. Japan] Korea 20-Japan 4

As you can see, I predicted a slight edge for Team Korea, not a rout. But that's what we got.

Team Japan will need a huge comeback tomorrow. Here's how I think it'll go:

Jeoung-Eun Lee v. Yuri Fudoh [adv. Japan] Korea 20-Japan 6
In-Kyung Kim v. Akiko Fukushima [adv. Korea] Korea 22-Japan 6
Bo Mi Lee v. Yuko Saitoh [adv. Japan] Korea 22-Japan 8
So Yeon Ryu v. Yukari Baba [adv. Korea] Korea 24-Japan 8
Bo-Bae Song v. Miho Koga [revenge Japan] Korea 24-Japan 10
Sun Young Yoo v. Momoko Ueda [adv. Japan] Korea 24-Japan 12
Eun-A Lim v. Ai Miyazato [adv. Japan] Korea 24-Japan 14
Mi-Jeong Jeon v. Sakura Yokomine [adv. Japan] Korea 24-Japan 16
Hee Kyung Seo v. Chie Arimura (72) [adv. Korea] Korea 26-Japan 16
Eun-Hee Ji v. Miki Saiki [adv. Korea] Korea 28-Japan 16
Na Yeon Choi v. Ayako Uehara [adv. Korea] Korea 30-Japan 16
Ji-Yai Shin v. Shinobu Moromizato [adv. Korea] Korea 32-Japan 16

In short, I don't see how Team Japan can win this thing.

[Update 1 (6:00 am): Fun to follow the reactions at Seoul Sisters.com!]

[Update 2 (6:13 am): I don't see why someone like Hee Kyung Seo, who has expressed interest in playing on the JLPGA in 2011, should be forced to choose between the Kyoraku Cup and JLPGA Q-School, as all the top Korean golfers were last year. Here's hoping the JLPGA's Final Qualifying Tournament is scheduled to end at least a few days before the Kyoraku Cup in 2010. It's not like Team Korea is missing Sun Ju Ahn, who finished in 2nd, 2 shots behind medalist Young Kim, at Q-School today. But wouldn't it have been cool for her to be competing this week?]