Youngsters to the fore for Team Asia
TEAM Asia captain Arjun Atwal has named several young golfers with talent for the EurAsia Cup against Team Europe at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club on Jan 1214.
Arjun has selected Malaysian golfers Gavin
Green and Nicholas
Fung along with Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Phachara Khongwatmai and Poom Saksansin.
Others in the team are India's S.S.P. Chawrasia and Anirban Lahiri; South Korea's An Byeong Hun and Sung Hoon Kang; Japan’s Yuta Ikeda and Hideto Tanihara; and, Li Hao Tong of China.
Arjun is confident that his golfers, who have won 58 individual titles in total worldwide, will deliver in the competition.
“I’m proud to announce my team which is predominantly represented by young players.
“Most are still in their 20s. However, they are established golfers with impressive credentials,” said Atwal.
“Seven players in my team are ranked inside the top 100 and this underlines the strength of Team Asia.
“This is a strong team and it will be our goal to win the EurAsia Cup.
“I have mapped out a game plan to keep the players motivated and battleready when the tournament starts”.
Gavin is representing Team Asia for the first time following a strong season.
“It is always nice to play at home. The EurAsia Cup is a huge thing and it is a totally different ball game as compared to stroke-play events,” said the 23-yearold.
Team Europe will feature Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Paul Casey, Paul Dunne, Ross Fisher, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Alex Levy, Alex Noren, Thomas Pieters, Henrik Stenson and Bernd Wiesberger.
In the last edition of the tournament, Europe posted a comprehensive 18 1/2-5 1/2 win to lift the trophy for the first time after the inaugural event in 2014 ended in a 10-10 tie. Fadhli Ishak