WOMEN'S AMATEUR ASIA-PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIP

February 12, 2026

Raina Kumar

Quick Quotes

Q. Raina, thanks you much for joining us. You've just finished your first rounds at the Women's Amateur Asia Pacific and you're the first player from Fiji to ever compete in this championship. How proud are you feeling?

RAINA KUMAR: I'm very happy. I'm very excited actually to be here because this is my first competition which is this big and the first Fiji girl is also pretty exciting.

Q. Tell us when you first found out you had qualified to compete in this championship? What did you think?

RAINA KUMAR: I was actually quite nervous because I had exams coming up. I'm studying MBBS at the Fiji School of Medicine, so I was quite nervous because I was stressed out from exams.

Eventually I got really excited and I started looking at pictures of other people and like everyone's Instagram and it made me more excited to come here.

Q. Tell me when you first arrived at Royal Wellington and you saw the setup of this championship, what did you think? It's a pretty big deal here, isn't it?

RAINA KUMAR: Yes. It looked a bit intimidating I would say. Other than that it was really exciting. It's the kind of stuff you see on TV, so getting to actually play was really exciting.

Especially when I tee'd off on the first hole there was a crowd of people, so that was exciting.

Q. You played in the first group with a young New Zealand member here, Elise Barber; she's only 13. She had a lot of fans out supporting. Was it amazing to see how good of a golfer she is at how young she is?

RAINA KUMAR: Yeah, it was really impressive. And she's local here, so it was fun looking at her. And she's really friendly also. So, yes.

Q. That's nice. Let's talk about your round. So you had a nice round of golf out there. Talk to us a little bit about it.

RAINA KUMAR: So my short game wasn't the best. I think I got a bit too nervous to chip and putt. Hopefully gets better tomorrow. Other than that my drives were pretty good. Iron shots were also not so bad.

So I was quite okay with it.

Q. The greens here at Royal Wellington are quite tricky. They have lots of undulations and lots of different break. Is putting something you're going to go and focus on this afternoon?

RAINA KUMAR: Yes, right after I finish the food here, because the food here is really good, I'm going to go and putt for a bit. I also want to chip because my chipping wasn't the best today.

Q. When you see girls that have played in this championship in the past, the current world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul won this in its first year, is it kind of pinch yourself that you're playing in championships that women like that have gone on and played and won and now you watch on the LPGA?

RAINA KUMAR: It's really impressive and it's exciting to see and see who makes it later in the years to come.

Q. You're studying to be a doctor?

RAINA KUMAR: Yes, correct.

Q. How do you balance your studies and your golf?

RAINA KUMAR: I really don't know. I do my best. I wake up early and try to get my -- so we have study guides so I try to do that first; then if I have time in the afternoon then I go for golf.

Q. And are your medical student friends impressed by just how great of a golfer you are?

RAINA KUMAR: Yes, they are.

Q. And will they all be cheering you on watching at home?

RAINA KUMAR: Yes.