Asia scripted one of its finest golfing moments today comprehensively defeating big brothers Japan 16.5-7.5 to clinch the inaugural Phoenix Dynasty Cup at the World Cup course of the Mission Hill Golf Club here. It was another fantastic performance by the highly motivated Asian team which wanted to prove a point. Japan were clearly the pre-tournament favourites, with the scoreline being predicted at 14-10 against Asia. But after winning five out of six fourballs on the penultimate day, the Asians never let go on the final day today. In the singles today, they won eight and lost three while the match between Thongchai Jaidee and Tomohiro Kondo was halved. Among the Indian stars, Jeev Milkha Singh was a 2&1 winner against Japanese matchplay expert Katsumasa Miyamoto, Jyoti Randhawa was stretched to the 18th hole by Hirofumi Miyase before winning 2-up, while Arjun Atwal lost to the veteran Tommy Nakajima 4&2. Asia required just 4.5 points on the final morning to win the magnificent trophy. They did it and pocketed it by the time the sixth group finished their match. Prayad Marksaeng was a 2&1 winner against Teshima, Korean strongman Kang Wook-Soon won 4&2 against Toru Suzuki, Charlie Wi beat Meshiai 4&3, while the local Chinese players Zhang Lian-Wei was a 4&3 winner against Nobuhito Sato and youngster Liang Wen-Chong beat Imano on the final hole. Jeev was in dominating form against Katsumasa Miyamoto, one of the strongest matchplay experts in Japan. The Chandigarh pro opened his account on the very first hole with a birdie, and then won the fifth, sixth and seventh to go 4-up. A par on the 10th made him 5-up, at which point he lost his focus a bit. “By that time, we had already won the tie and I slackened a bit. The wake-up call came on the 15th when Miyamoto almost holed his tee shot and I was just two-up,” said Jeev, who played percentage golf on the 16th and 17th to end his match. Randhawa found himself up against against the reserve Japanese player Hirofumi Miyase after regular Keiichiro Fukabori pulled out with an upset stomach. Randhawa pulled it back to level with birdies within two holes on each occasions.
