SHENZHEN, Dec 14 - Team China dug deep on Saturday to get the better of an Asia-Pacific Select side in the foursomes matches of OneAsia’s Dongfeng Nissan Cup, and go into Sunday’s singles round just a point behind in pursuit of their first win.
The Asia-Pacific side lead 6 1/2 - 5 1/2 after clinching Friday’s fourball matches 4 1/2 - 1 1/2 and going down 2 - 4 in Saturday’s foursome clashes of the Ryder-Cup style tournament at CTS Tycoon Club in Shenzhen.
The Dongfeng Nissan Cup pits 12 Asia-Pacific players against a China national team over three days of matchplay competition. The visitors won the inaugural 2011 tournament 12 1/2 - 11 1/2, and retained the title last year with a 14 1/2 - 9 1/2 victory.
Veterans Zhang Lianwei and Huang Wenyi, paired again after their opening fourball win, set the pace from the start on Saturday by hammering Scott Laycock and Michael Long 5 & 4.
They only needed a par on the first to go ahead, but three birdies on the trot put them well in control and they were five up after five and cruising.
China’s gamble on changing all their other pairings -- the visitors kept their combinations the same -- paid off handsomely.
Eric Mina and Choo Tze-huang, the only Asia-Pacific pair to lose on Friday, looked to be making amends by turning four up against Yang Guanming and Yan Bin in the second match, but the Szechuan pair turned as hot as their home province’s famed spicy food, and they won five-in-a-row from the 13th to triumph 2 & 1.
The Southeast Asian pairing of Thaworn Wiratchant and Rory Hie looked comfortable for most of the day after starting birdie-birdie against Huang Mingjie and Wu Kangchun before easing to a 3 & 2 victory.
Su Dong and 16-year-old amateur Dou Zecheng didn’t have to do much in their 3 & 1 win against Choi Ho-sung and Kim Dae-sub as the Korean pair just couldn’t get it together and posted seven bogeys or worse before shaking hands.
Match five proved the most exciting of the day with Wu Ashun and Wang Minghao going toe-to-toe with the Japanese pair of Kazuhiro Yamashita and Masimichi Uehira all the way to the 18th before winning one up, with the lead changing hands four times.
The Asia-Pacific Select side grabbed a crucial second point in the final match courtesy of some more deadly putting from 2013 OneAsia Order of Merit champion Matt Griffin who snatched a half on Friday with a 60-footer on the last.
Paired again with Gareth Paddison, Griffin missed a 40-footer by a hair on the 15th before draining a 35-footer on the next hole to secure a 3 & 2 win against Liu Cha and Li Xinyang.
China vice-captain Cheng Jun was full of praise for the way his side battled back.
“It's a good match for Team China today,” he said. “It was a good and aggressive beginning, very stable, and then (the others) cooperated well later. Today's results went just like we planned.”
Asia-Pacific Select vice-captain Scott Laycock said the stage was set for a gripping day of singles on Sunday.
“It went our way yesterday but today it was all about Team China,” he said.
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