Golf: Asia beats Japan to retain Dynasty Cup title

Asian Economic News, April 18, 2005

SHENZHEN, China, April 17 Kyodo

Zhang Lianwei defeated Japanese ace Shigeki Maruyama 3 and 2 in the final singles match as Asia comfortably defeated Japan 14.5-9.5 to retain the Dynasty Cup on Sunday.

Tomohiro Kondo, Hiroyuki Fujita and Takashi Kamiyama halved their respective matches but Angelo Que of the Philippines sparked a run of four wins for Asia by defeating Hideki Kase before Zhang's win over U.S. PGA player Maruyama put the icing on the cake at Mission Hills Golf Club.

It was a disappointing showing all round for Japan as Keiichiro Fukabori and Shingo Katayama were the only Japanese players to win in the 12 individual matches on the final day of the Ryder Cup-style tournament.

The Japanese had been looking to avenge their loss in the inaugural Dynasty Cup in 2003 but non-playing captain Isao Aoki admitted that the better team had won again.

''The players gave it their best shot in unfamiliar surroundings and I know they will be even more disappointed than I am,'' Aoki said.

''The Asian team's golf was a level above ours and we will just have to start from scratch,'' he shrugged.