Lahiri-SSP lose but Li helps Asia take lead

Kuala Lumpur, January 12

China's Li Haotong held his nerve to birdie his final hole and give hosts Asia a slender lead over champions Europe on the opening day of the EurAsia Cup in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Paired with Malaysian Nicholas Fung, the 22-year-old Li won the hole to halve the day's final fourball match against Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger as Asia opened up a 3 1/2-2 1/2 lead.

In the last edition of the event, a Darren Clarke-captained European team romped to an 18 1/2-5 1/2 blowout win over their Asian counterparts in the second edition of the biennial matchplay contest in 2016.

However, Thomas Bjorn's side were far less convincing this time around, with Europe finding themselves down in four matches and all-square in the other two as Asia dominated the early stages of the first day.

Europe did manage to fight back as the rounds progressed with the English pairing of Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Casey putting the team on the board with a 4 and 3 victory over Korean An Byeong-un and Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat in the first match.

Asia rallied to take the lead with Yuta Ikeda and Gavin Green beating Thomas Pieters and Matthew Fitzpatrick 2 and 1, before Poom Saksansin and Kang Sung-hoon defeated Henrik Stenson and Alex Levy 5 and 4.

Another English pairing, Ross Fisher and Tyrrell Hatton, then tied the scores with a 5 and 4 win over the Indian duo of Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia.

However, Hideto Tanihara and the 18-year-old Phachara Khongwatmai put Asia back in front with a 2-up victory over Alex Noren and Paul Dunne, leaving it to Cabrera-Bello and Wiesberger to ensure the champions headed into the weekend on level terms.

Cabrera-Bello's immaculate putting saw the pair lead by one at the 18th tee but they failed to match Asia's birdie and had to settle for a half-point. — Reuters