INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist Chihiro Ikeda is looking beyond the horizon for another fling with glory.

With a vastly improved game and a large dose of confidence, Chihiro now dreams of delivering another gold for the country in next year?s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

And there?s the LPGA to look forward to.

The daughter of a Japanese father and a Filipino mother wants to relish the feeling of having boosted Philippine ladies golf in the Laos SEA Games, though.

?It?s an indescribable feeling, winning for your country,? said Ikeda, who won the individual gold and powered the RP women to the team championship. ?It gives you a different kind of high.?

The SEA Games feat capped the 18-year-old Ikeda?s banner season that also saw her annex seven other individual titles here and abroad, including the Hong Kong Amateur Open and the Indonesian Amateur Open.

?I believe she?s ready for the LPGA,? said national team coach Bong Lopez, also the man at the helm of the ICTSI golf program where Ikeda and teammates Dottie Ardina, Mia Piccio, Sarah Ababa and reigning RP Ladies Open champion Louise Manalo get the best of training with international exposure to boot.

?But what excites her is the chance to lead the country in next year?s Asian Games and perhaps get a crack at the gold,? said Lopez.

He spotted the chubby Ikeda during a tournament in her hometown Davao in 2006 and was impressed by her swing and driving power. She averages 260 yards off the tee.