Singapore: Malaysia suffered another frustrating day in the office as Singapore rallied to improve their lead to 7½ – 4½ in the Prudential Causeway Trophy on Saturday.
The hosts trailed in the early proceedings of the fourballs round but came home in buoyant fashion as they won three of the five matches contested at the World Classic of Laguna National Golf & Country Club to enter Sunday’s singles match-ups with a three-point advantage.
With match 6 being halved after Singapore’s Mitchell Slorach pulled out with a wrist injury overnight, Malaysia got off to a bright start when their third pairing of R. Nachimuthu and Shaaban Hussin put one on the board with a crushing 4&3 victory over Quincy Quek and Marc Kawasoe to keep the Malaysian hopes alive.
Backed by a small but vocal crowd, Singapore came back strongly with Lam Chih Bing and Lam Zhiqun combining superbly for the second day running to grind out a 1-up victory over Nicholas Fung and Anis Helmi Hassan.
The Singaporeans found themselves 1-down at the turn but battled to square the match when Zhiqun parred the par-four 10th. Chih Bing then turned the tables on the Malaysians when he eagled the 12th hole for Singapore to go 1-up.
They were 2-up on the 15th hole before Fung birdied the 16th to reduce the advantage for Singapore to one. The match could have ended on the 17th but Zhiqun saw his birdie putt lip out of the cup.
The visiting Malaysian selection clinched another point when their top pairing of Airil Rizman Zahari and Sukree Othman combined for six birdies to edge past Choo Tze Huang and Chang Ren Chiat 4& 2, keeping it a one-point contest.
But it was the veteran Poh Eng Wah, partnering Vincent Khua, who pulled off the major upset of the day, when his two closing birdies ensured a 1-up defeat of Danny Chia and Rizal Amin. The local duo had trailed up till the 13th hole but won the next hole to go level before Eng Wah drained a 15-footer on the 17th to stun the Malaysians.
With Mardan Mamat and Koh Dengshan despatching off S. Murthy and Akhmal Tarmizee Nazari with a solid 3&1 victory, the hosts now only need 4.5 points on Sunday to ensure victory in the inaugural championship.
Singapore’s captain Lip Ooi paid tribute to his charges and is confident they can deliver Singapore first win at the Prudential Causeway Trophy.
“Today’s result was better than expected. I’m fully confident that we can win. The key is to believe in ourselves and stretch the lead further. I hope the see the red numbers on the front-nine so that we can close the door early,” said Ooi.
Malaysia’s captain Chong Chee Ming however believes the door is not closed yet and there is still every chance for Malaysia to create an upset.
“I still believe my pairings were the right pairings. They headed out there and fought all the way. We only need to win three more matches to tie with Singapore and I still believe in my boys that they can do it,” said Chong.
