Europe fight back to defeat Asia in EurAsia Cup
KUALA LUMPUR: Europe came from behind to convincingly defeat Asia and clinch their second straight EurAsia Cup with a string of victories in Sunday’s singles matches.
Skipper Thomas Bjorn’s side had entered the final day of the Ryder Cup- style match play tournament in Malaysia trailing Asia by one point.
But the European golfers put on a masterclass in the singles, winning eight of the 12 matches, and securing a 14 to 10 overall victory against Indian captain Arjun Atwal’s men.
It was a disappointing result for Team Asia, who had ended the first two days of the three- day EurAsia Cup with a slim lead and stood a good chance of winning for the first time.
Europe thrashed Asia by 13 points the last time it was held in 2016 while the inaugural 2014 edition ended in a tie.
The win in the $ 4.8 million tournament will come as a relief for Bjorn, who is also Europe’s Ryder Cup captain and is gearing up for the showdown against the USA in September.
The Europeans dominated from the start Sunday at the Glenmarie Gol f and Country Club near Kuala Lumpur, wining seven of their first eight matches.
Belgium’s Thomas Pieters scored Team Europe’s winning point with a victory over South Korea’s An Byeong-Hun.
Sweden’s Alex Noren earlier got the Europeans off to a good start by beating Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung 4- 2 to level the tournament.
Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello then defeated Malaysia’s Gavin Green 4- 3.
Raced to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood beat India’s S.S.P Chawrasia 2-1, and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson then defeated Japan’s Hideto Tanihara 2-1.
Other European winners inc luded Aus t r ia’s Bernd Wiesberger, France’s Alexander Levy and England’s Tyrrel l Hatton.
Asia salvaged some pride with three points from victories by Thai land’s Poom Saksansin, Japan’s Yuta Ikeda and China’s Li Haotong.
South Korea’s Kang Sung-Hoon halved his match with England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick.