ETOKAI 12 Animals Golf Tournament 2022: JAJAUMA (Snake and Horse) team emerges winner, yet again
Launched in India in 2014, the ETOKAI 12 Animals Golf Tournament is played in this format nowhere in the world by the Japanese. The teams are selected on the basis of the 12 zodiac signs the team members belong to. Jaja means snake and Uma is a horse, which makes for the JAJAUMA team as per the Japanese astronomical system.
NEW DELHI: The Japanese zodiac signs based golf team JAJAUMA (Snake and Horse) has once again emerged as the winner of the ETOKAI 12 Animals Golf Tournament 2022 played recently. This was the 5th time the JAJAUMA team won the tournament. However, it had slipped to the third position in the ETOKAI 12 Animals Golf Tournament 2021 played early this year when USHITORA team won the event. DORABI team was adjudged the runners-up in the previous tournament.
In the ETOKAI 12 Animals Golf Tournament 2022, the winning team JAJAUMA’s star players Yuji Uchiyama and Yasunori Soratani grew to the limelight with the best gross score (lowest gross), and Takahiro Hashimoto was declared the golfer with the best net score. A total of 144 Japanese golfers played in this tournament that has held at Golden Greens Golf Resorts . In the ETOKAI 2021 tournament also, Yuji Uchiyama of the JAJAUMA team had emerged as the best player of the event with a gross score of 79 and net of 79.
The individual awards included 1st to 3rd place, ranking awards, longest drive contest awards, closest to the pin contest, short Shortest drive contest, birdie awards, eagle awards, and hole-in-one awards.
Previously, the JAJAUMA team has been the winner of the tournament since the year 2017 without a break as it had won 2018 and 2019 tournaments also. The ETOKAI tournament could not be organized in the year 2020 and 2021 because of the Corona pandemic. It was declared the winner in the year 2014 also when ETOKAI 12 Animal Golf Tournament was launched in India for the first time.
The ETOKAI 12 Animals Golf Tournament 2021 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.
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.
The Team Selection criteria:
ETOKAI 12 Animal Golf Tournament is played throughout the year in phases by six participating teams with each having 24 players.
Related article: Ushitora wins ETOKAI 12 Animals Golf Tournament 2021, 4-time defending champion Jajauma slips to 3rd position
The team members are selected by the zodiac sign they carry depending upon the year of their birth as per Japanese customs. The word ANIMAL is associated with the tournament basis the Japanese zodiac system that is categorized on the basis of 12 animals. Jaja means snake and Uma represents horse as per Japanese astronomical system.
So those who were born in the year 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966, 1954, 1942, 1930, 1918, 1906 belong to Jaja (snake) category, and others in the year 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, 1941, 1929, 1917 are identified as Uma (hoarse).
Prakash Yadav, Founder & Director, AJU Group Japanese Hotels that sponsored the event, announced to honour the player with a complimentary trip to Thailand to the player hitting 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, one free night stay at any of the AJU group hotels in India, etc.” Yadav added.
