India's premier golfer Jeev Milkha Singh, who is looking forward to 2003 as a watershed year of his career, was delighted on being selected to represent the Asian team against Japan in the inaugural Ryder Cup-style Dynasty Cup, which will be played at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China, from March 14-16, 2003.
"It is a great honour to be selected as captain's pick for the Dynasty Cup. I am looking forward to the tournament, which I think is a great initiative on part of the Asian PGA and Japanese Tour. I would like to thank captain Hsieh Min-nan and the Asian PGA and assure them of giving my 100 per cent," said the Indian star, who left on Monday night to participate in the $-900,000 Caltex Singapore Masters at the Laguna National Club course in Singapore this week.
The 31-year-old Hero Honda-sponsored golfer is one of the three Indian players who will be seen in action at the Dynasty Cup. The other two are Arjun Atwal, who is the defending champion at the Caltex Singapore Masters, a joint sanctioned event of the Asian and European Tours; and the No 1 player in Asia, Jyoti Randhawa. Both Arjun and Jyoti made it to the team on the basis of their performance on the Asian PGA Tour in the last two years.
The Indian representation in the team would be the biggest after Thailand, who have four players in the team led by Thongchai Jaidee, who topped the points tally.
"I am sure I will be able to help the Asian team, especially after playing in Japan for the last two years. I have a fair idea of the players who are going to represent the Japanese team and will be able to give my team some inputs. I am in a very confident frame of mind after practicing hard during the off season," said Jeev, who narrowly missed qualifying for the US PGA Tour last year, but will become the first Indian pro on the Nationwide Tour, the second grade Tour of the US PGA, this year.
Atwal lauded captain Hsieh Min-nan for choosing Jeev. "Given the format of the Dynasty Cup, Jeev is one of the best picks. He thrives under pressure situations and his Japanese Tour experience will also help us," said the Kolkata-based pro, who was in Delhi for the Business Today-American Express Pro-Am of Champions before leaving for Singapore.
The Dynasty Cup is a three-day team event between Japan and Asia. There will be six foursomes matches on the first day, six fourball matches on the second day and 12 singles matches on the final day. The teams require 12-½ points to walk away with the magnificent trophy, specially commissioned from Wedgewood for the tournament. Eight of the 12 players made it to the team based on a points system on the Asian PGA Tour, while four were picked up by the captain.
THE ASIAN TEAM: Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Charlie Wi (Kor); Arjun Atwal (Ind); Thammanoon Srirot (Tha); Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha); Kang Wook-soon (Kor); Zhang Lian-Wei (Chn); Jyoti Randhawa (Ind); Captain's picks: Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind); Prayad Marksaeng (Tha); Lin Keng-chi (Twn); Liang Wen-chong (Chn).
