Rose stays ahead at Indonesian Masters
Beijing, April 19: A powerful line-up of star players from the Asian Tour, European Tour and the China Golf Association will gather for the 24th staging of the Volvo China Open which gets underway at Beijing Topwin Golf and Country Club from April 26 to 29.
Two-time Volvo China Open champion, Alexander Levy of France, will be aiming to win the title for a record third time when he returns to defend his title at the CNY20 million (approximately US$3,150,000) event, tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the China Golf Association.
He will face stiff challenges from the likes of Thailand’s number one, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity standings leader Shubhankar Sharma of India and Chinese star Haotong Li, who was the 2016 Volvo China Open champion.
Li, a former Volvo Junior Match Play champion, will spearhead the local charge at his National Open, where he has played since he was an amateur. The 22-year-old underlined his star credentials when he held off the challenge from four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy to win the European Tour’s Dubai Desert Classic in January. That victory propelled him to a career-high 32nd place on the Official World Golf Ranking and allowed him to become the first Chinese player in history to break into the world’s top-50.
Other notable names include reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit Winner Gavin Green, young Thais Phachara Khongwatmai and Rattanon Wannasrichan as well as European Tour stars Bernd Wiesberger of Austria and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands.
"Once again, we have assembled a powerful field for the staging of the country’s national open and we look forward to seeing all of the players competing at Topwin Golf and Country Club and wish them the best of luck," said Sven De Smet, Chairman of the Volvo China Open Board.
"Our thanks go to the China Golf Association, both the European and Asian Tours, and to the event promoter and management company Mitime for helping stage what we are sure will be a memorable sporting event in China." added De Smet.
The 24th staging of the Volvo China Open will take place from April 26th to 29th, 2018 at Beijing Huairou Topwin Golf and Country Club. The event is tri-sanctioned by the China Golf Association, the European Tour and the Asia Tour, and co-promoted by Mitime Golf and Volvo, with a total prize-fund of RMB 20 million. Volvo was the first western brand to engage with golf in China in 1995, and this will be Volvo’s 87th tournament on The European Tour.
Ends.
About Asian Tour
As the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, the Asian Tour leads the development of golf across the region, enhancing the careers of its members while maintaining a commitment to the integrity of the game. The Asian Tour, through its membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, is the only recognised pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia. This unique feature positions the Asian Tour at the pinnacle of professional golf in Asia; providing its events with Official World Ranking status. Tour Partners include Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Panasonic (Official Consumer Electronics), Habitat for Humanity (Official Sustainable Development Partner), ECCO (Official Footwear Sponsor), Titleist and FootJoy (Official Web Partner), Bloomberg TV (Official International Media Partner), Bloomberg Businessweek Chinese (Official International Media Partner), Wall Street Journal (Official International Media Partner) and Sentosa in Singapore which is the Home of the Asian Tour which also has an office in Kuala Lumpur.
Osaka, Japan, April 18: Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan hopes to upset the odds by making a last-ditch effort to win the Panasonic Swing series with a victory at the Panasonic Open Championship which starts on Thursday.
Rattanon still has an outside chance of pipping India’s Shiv Kapur to the Panasonic Swing title and he holds the belief that anything is possible at the Ibaraki Country Club this week.
The 22-year-old was in commanding form when he romped to a wire-to-wire victory at the Thailand Open, which marked the start of the Panasonic Swing series in his home country last May.
He aims to reproduce that similar form again when he takes on the best players from the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) this week.
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Scott Hend of Australia
India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia is also hoping to get back to his winning ways after enjoying a refreshing break from golf at home.
Chawrasia, a six-time Asian Tour winner, has missed the cut twice in his last three starts and will be seeking to make himself one of the genuine contenders again this week.
Australia’s Scott Hend is also eyeing similar fortunes after a lackluster start to the year where he has missed all three cuts on the Asian Tour.
Hend will be looking forward to getting back to his competitive best which saw him clinch the prestigious Asian Tour Order of Merit crown in 2016.
Did you know?
- Rattanon finished tied-fifth in Myanmar which was also his best result on the Asian Tour this year.
- He has also won once in ChineseTaipei on the Asian Development Tour in 2015
- Rattanon represented Thailand during his amateur days and won the team and individual gold medals at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.
- S.S.P. Chawrasia was a recipient of India’s prestigious Arjuna award in 2017.
- He claimed his first victory outside of India when he won in the Philippines in 2016. Chawrasia represented India at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro that year.
- The Indian has played three events on the Asian Tour so far. He missed the cut in the national opens of Singapore and India and was tied-55th in Malaysia.
- Scott Hend is the first Australian to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit title and the fourth player to surpass US$1 million in earnings during a season in 2016.
- He was also voted Asian Tour Players’ Player of the Year by fellow peers that year.
Players’ Quotes
Rattanon Wannasrichan (Tha)
There’s a lot at stake this week. There are extra points for the Panasonic Swing and it’s going to be interesting. The first thing that I would try to do is the make the cut first. After that, I’ll focus on making it into the top-five and if I can do that, I’ll try to go for that win. I’m very relaxed now and I’m not giving myself any pressure. I have not made the cut in Japan before and I hope to change that this week. I’ve been working on my drivers a lot during the break as it’s important to get all your shots onto the fairways here in Japan. I’m doing well and I’m looking forward to a good week.
S.S.P. Chawrasia (Ind)
I had a good break after the Indian Open. I was just relaxing at home and spending time with the family. I practiced a little bit but it was a good time for me to recharge as I didn’t have a good start since the start of the year. I hope to shake off the rust soon and be back at my best. This week would be a good time for me to do that as I feel very comfortable here and I’ve got a good feeling about my game.
S.S.P. Chawrasia of India
Scott Hend (Aus)
I have not been back to Japan for some time and with events in China and Korea taking place after this, I want to stay in the same time zone rather than going back and forth between different time zones. I have a little bit of back issues for the last four weeks and haven’t been able to play at all. My back’s getting better and it’s good to go this week. The grass is different here and the greens are quite fast. After an extended break, it takes me a little bit more time to sharpen up again and try to win a tournament. I’m trying to fast track that a little bit and we’ll see how it goes. I always try to finish the year inside the top-50 on the world rankings as my rankings have been slipping rapidly because I’ve not been playing well. But I hope to change that very soon.
Bowen Xiao (Chn)
I will be going to Japan for the Panasonic Open Championship before going home for my national open. This will be my first visit to Japan and it’s also my first time travelling overseas for event on my own. The last few events I had my friends either accompanying me or caddy for me. The Asian Tour staff are very helpful. They have all planned it nicely for us so I thought it would be good to try and experience how it is like to travel and compete abroad on my own. I also spoke to Liang Wen chong earlier. He will also be in Japan that week. He shared his experiences of playing in Japan with me and also gave me some advices and encouragement which I really appreciate.
Danny Chia (Mas)
I’ll be focusing my time in Japan, at least until June. I want to test myself here and see where I stand before the re-rankings on JGTO. I had my first start in Japan last week and unfortunately I missed the cut. But I’m more familiar with this golf course and I hope to do better. I thought I would have played enough golf in Japan to know what to do here but in reality, there are still so many things for me to learn here. It’s a different ball game over here and it’s still a learning process for me. Every golf course is new to me. For example, I got totally no idea where the wind was coming from when I played last week. I didn’t hit the ball too badly but I just couldn’t score. It has not been a good start for me this year and I think it’s because I’m still trying to experiment with my techniques. I’ve put a stop to it and have told myself to stick to what I’ve been doing in the past. I have not really been scoring but I managed to hit the ball a lot better now.
Ends.
Shah Alam, Malaysia, December 8: India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia believes his experience will help the young Asian team when they face Team Europe at the EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOMB from January 12 to 14, 2018
Making his second appearance at the EurAsia Cup, Chawrasia counts himself as a veteran, who is ready to step up and guide his younger teammates as they go up against some of the best players from Europe at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club.
“This is my second appearance. I’m really looking forward to the event. I believe it is a good thing that we have a young team. The team this year is stronger than last year because players like Anirban (Lahiri) are playing well and I’m also playing okay!
“Anirban and I have played many years on the Asian Tour so we have the experience as compared to the younger players. I think we will sit down together with the Captain and the new guys and keep the mood very positive among the team. It is very important to be positive in a team event. You have to keep motivating each other,” said the 39-year-old.
Chawrasia, a six-time Asian Tour winner, has also placed his trust in compatriot Arjun Atwal, who will captain Team Asia for the first time at the EurAsia Cup.
“Arjun is a great captain and we come from the same golf course. We know each other very well. I think he will be a great captain for us. We were chatting in Mauritius and everything is very positive. He told me that we can choose a few players who we feel comfortable to play with and he will decide how to do the pairings.
“I like his style and he is respected by the players because he came from the Asian Tour and played on the European Tour and PGA Tour. I’m sure his experience will be very useful to the team,” said Chawrasia.
The Indian also believes he has matured and developed significantly as a player since his EurAsia Cup debut and is confident of a better showing this time around.
“2016 was my first year and I was a little bit nervous because I haven’t played in a team event before. It was a bit confusing but I learnt many things. I’m more confident this year. Hopefully we can play better. It is very exciting because all the players are playing for Asia. It is great fun,” said Chawrasia.
China’s Zhang Lianwei has been picked as Vice-Captain by Atwal to help him lead Team Asia against Thomas Bjorn’s Team Europe.
Malaysia’s Gavin Green, Chawrasia along with Thai teenager Phachara Khongwatmai, Poom Saksansin make up the leading four Asian players on the Order of Merit.
Japan’s Yuta Ikeda of Japan, China’s Li Haotong, India’s Lahiri and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat also earned their spot in Team Asia as the leading available Asians on the world ranking.
Korea’s Byeonghun An, who represented Team Asia in the second edition in 2016, will make his return to the team after being selected as a captain’s pick.
Joining him as Atwal’s wildcards are Hideto Tanihara of Japan and Nicholas Fung of Malaysia who will make their third appearance in the EurAsia Cup.
Sunghoon Kang of Korea, a winner on the Asian Tour, will make his debut after being selected as the final captain’s pick.
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.
The EurAsia Cup will feature 24 matches, with day one showcasing six Fourball matches, followed by six Foursomes matches and 12 Singles matches on the third day.
Ends.
About DRB-HICOM
DRB-HICOM Berhad (“DRB-HICOM”) is one of Malaysia’s leading conglomerates with core businesses in the Automotive, Services & Education, as well as Property sectors. With more than 90 active companies in its stable and over 59,000 employees group-wide, DRB-HICOM’s aim is to continue adding value and propelling the nation’s development. In the Automotive sector, DRB-HICOM is involved in the manufacturing, assembly and distribution of passenger and commercial vehicles, including the national motorcycle. In Services & Education, DRB-HICOM is involved in various businesses, including concession and financial-related services. In Property, DRB-HICOM is involved in residential and commercial developments.
About Asian Tour
As the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, the Asian Tour leads the development of golf across the region, enhancing the careers of its members while maintaining a commitment to the integrity of the game. The Asian Tour, through its membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, is the only recognised pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia. This unique feature positions the Asian Tour at the pinnacle of professional golf in Asia; providing its events with Official World Ranking status. Tour Partners include Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Panasonic (Official Consumer Electronics), ECCO (Official Footwear Sponsor), FENIX XCell (Official Apparel Supplier), Titleist (Official Web Partner), Bloomberg TV (Official International Media Partner), Bloomberg Businessweek Chinese (Official International Media Partner), Wall Street Journal (Official International Media Partner) and Sentosa in Singapore which is the Home of the Asian Tour which also has an office in Kuala Lumpur.
Please visit us at:
www.wp-asiantour.ocs-sport.com
www.facebook.com/asiantourgolf
About the European Tour
The European Tour celebrates men’s professional golf on a global stage. In 2017, the European Tour International Schedule features a minimum of 47 tournaments in 26 countries, including eight Rolex Series events, all part of the Race to Dubai. Celebrating the global connectivity of the European Tour and Dubai, the Race to Dubai is a season-long competition to crown the European Tour’s Number One player, an honour which in 2016 went to Sweden’s Henrik Stenson for the second time, and which since 2009 has also been achieved three times by Rory McIlroy, as well as by Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald. Formerly known as the Order of Merit, points are accumulated based on prize money won, with the top 10 ranked players at the end of the season sharing a $5million Race to Dubai bonus pool. Since its formation in 1972, the European Tour has witnessed 26 Members celebrate a total of 52 Major Championship titles between them, enjoyed ten Members attaining the pinnacle of World Number One and has celebrated its diversity as players from 36 different countries have won on the Tour. The European Tour also manages the Challenge Tour, which featured 28 tournaments in 22 countries in 2016, and the Senior Tour, which featured 13 tournaments in nine countries in 2016. It is also the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe, the body which, alongside the PGA of America, administers golf’s greatest team contest, The Ryder Cup. The European Tour broadcasts live coverage of its tournaments to more than 490 million homes in more than 150 countries every week, generating in excess of 2,200 global broadcast hours for each event. It also enjoys the support of many of the world’s leading business brands with Rolex, BMW, Emirates and Titleist as Official Partners.
About MMC Corporation Berhad
MMC Corporation Berhad (MMC) is a leading utilities and infrastructure group with diversified businesses under three divisions, namely ports & logistics, energy & utilities and engineering & construction. Its key businesses under the Ports and Logistics division include the operations of Port of Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd, Johor Port Berhad, Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, Penang Port Sdn Bhd, Kontena Nasional Berhad and JP Logistics. Internationally, MMC has an associate stake in Red Sea Gateway Terminal Company Limited, a container port terminal within the Jeddah Islamic Port, Saudi Arabia. Under the Energy & Utilities division, MMC is the single largest shareholder of both Malakoff Corporation Berhad and Gas Malaysia Berhad. MMC’s Engineering & Construction division has further established itself in the sector with a leading role as the Project Delivery Partner (PDP) and underground works package contractor for the 51km Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) project (Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line) and Line 2 project (Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line). Prior to this, MMC has successfully completed the 329km Ipoh-Padang Besar Electrified Double Tracking Project as well as the innovative Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) motorway, the first-of-its-kind dual-purpose tunnel in the world. MMC continues to make inroads in the construction industry, securing key civil and infrastructure projects in the country namely Langat Centralised Sewerage Treatment Plant, Langat 2 Water Treatment Plant, civil and infrastructure works for RAPID Pengerang Cogeneration Plant. Additionally, MMC has a 20% effective interest in Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Bhd (BHP) which has been appointed as PDP for the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway Project. In other businesses, MMC owns Aliran Ihsan Resources Berhad, a water treatment plant operator and Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd, the operator of Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru; a major aviation hub and the main air transportation gateway to Iskandar Malaysia. Additionally, MMC’s Group Property arm manages close to 6,000 acres of industrial developments in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor and Kulim, Kedah, namely Senai Airport City, Tanjung Bin Petrochemical & Maritime Industrial Centre (TBPMIC) and Northern Technocity in Kulim. The Senai Airport City, TBPMIC and NTC (NTC) developments come under the ambit of Group Property’s three operating companies – Senai Airport City Sdn Bhd, Seaport Worldwide Sdn Bhd and Northern Technocity Sdn Bhd respectively.
Osaka, Japan, April 18: Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan hopes to upset the odds by making a last-ditch effort to win the Panasonic Swing series with a victory at the Panasonic Open Championship which starts on Thursday.
Rattanon still has an outside chance of pipping India’s Shiv Kapur to the Panasonic Swing title and he holds the belief that anything is possible at the Ibaraki Country Club this week.
The 22-year-old was in commanding form when he romped to a wire-to-wire victory at the Thailand Open, which marked the start of the Panasonic Swing series in his home country last May.
He aims to reproduce that similar form again when he takes on the best players from the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) this week.
Scott Hend of Australia
India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia is also hoping to get back to his winning ways after enjoying a refreshing break from golf at home.
Chawrasia, a six-time Asian Tour winner, has missed the cut twice in his last three starts and will be seeking to make himself one of the genuine contenders again this week.
Australia’s Scott Hend is also eyeing similar fortunes after a lackluster start to the year where he has missed all three cuts on the Asian Tour.
Hend will be looking forward to getting back to his competitive best which saw him clinch the prestigious Asian Tour Order of Merit crown in 2016.
Did you know?
- Rattanon finished tied-fifth in Myanmar which was also his best result on the Asian Tour this year.
- He has also won once in ChineseTaipei on the Asian Development Tour in 2015
- Rattanon represented Thailand during his amateur days and won the team and individual gold medals at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.
- S.S.P. Chawrasia was a recipient of India’s prestigious Arjuna award in 2017.
- He claimed his first victory outside of India when he won in the Philippines in 2016. Chawrasia represented India at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro that year.
- The Indian has played three events on the Asian Tour so far. He missed the cut in the national opens of Singapore and India and was tied-55th in Malaysia.
- Scott Hend is the first Australian to win the Asian Tour Order of Merit title and the fourth player to surpass US$1 million in earnings during a season in 2016.
- He was also voted Asian Tour Players’ Player of the Year by fellow peers that year.
Players’ Quotes
Rattanon Wannasrichan (Tha)
There’s a lot at stake this week. There are extra points for the Panasonic Swing and it’s going to be interesting. The first thing that I would try to do is the make the cut first. After that, I’ll focus on making it into the top-five and if I can do that, I’ll try to go for that win. I’m very relaxed now and I’m not giving myself any pressure. I have not made the cut in Japan before and I hope to change that this week. I’ve been working on my drivers a lot during the break as it’s important to get all your shots onto the fairways here in Japan. I’m doing well and I’m looking forward to a good week.
S.S.P. Chawrasia (Ind)
I had a good break after the Indian Open. I was just relaxing at home and spending time with the family. I practiced a little bit but it was a good time for me to recharge as I didn’t have a good start since the start of the year. I hope to shake off the rust soon and be back at my best. This week would be a good time for me to do that as I feel very comfortable here and I’ve got a good feeling about my game.
S.S.P. Chawrasia of India
Scott Hend (Aus)
I have not been back to Japan for some time and with events in China and Korea taking place after this, I want to stay in the same time zone rather than going back and forth between different time zones. I have a little bit of back issues for the last four weeks and haven’t been able to play at all. My back’s getting better and it’s good to go this week. The grass is different here and the greens are quite fast. After an extended break, it takes me a little bit more time to sharpen up again and try to win a tournament. I’m trying to fast track that a little bit and we’ll see how it goes. I always try to finish the year inside the top-50 on the world rankings as my rankings have been slipping rapidly because I’ve not been playing well. But I hope to change that very soon.
Bowen Xiao (Chn)
I will be going to Japan for the Panasonic Open Championship before going home for my national open. This will be my first visit to Japan and it’s also my first time travelling overseas for event on my own. The last few events I had my friends either accompanying me or caddy for me. The Asian Tour staff are very helpful. They have all planned it nicely for us so I thought it would be good to try and experience how it is like to travel and compete abroad on my own. I also spoke to Liang Wen chong earlier. He will also be in Japan that week. He shared his experiences of playing in Japan with me and also gave me some advices and encouragement which I really appreciate.
Danny Chia (Mas)
I’ll be focusing my time in Japan, at least until June. I want to test myself here and see where I stand before the re-rankings on JGTO. I had my first start in Japan last week and unfortunately I missed the cut. But I’m more familiar with this golf course and I hope to do better. I thought I would have played enough golf in Japan to know what to do here but in reality, there are still so many things for me to learn here. It’s a different ball game over here and it’s still a learning process for me. Every golf course is new to me. For example, I got totally no idea where the wind was coming from when I played last week. I didn’t hit the ball too badly but I just couldn’t score. It has not been a good start for me this year and I think it’s because I’m still trying to experiment with my techniques. I’ve put a stop to it and have told myself to stick to what I’ve been doing in the past. I have not really been scoring but I managed to hit the ball a lot better now.
Ends.
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