Asia-Pacific win Bonallack and Patsy Hankins Trophies
Robin Dawson in action in Doha. Picture: EGA
Robin Dawson won two and a half points from four and Lisburn's Paula Grant won her singles but that wasn't enough to stop Asian Pacific winning the Bonallack and Patsy Hankins Trophies at Doha Golf Club in Qatar on Saturday.
In the Bonallack Trophy, Asia-Pacific emerged as winners for the first time since 2004 with the biennial match decided by the last of the 12 singles.
Asia-Pacific held a narrow lead after the first day fourball and foursomes matches, but trailed by two points after day two.
Robin Dawson. Picture: EGA
In the singles on the third day, Asia-Pacific won five of the first seven matches to take a one-point lead with Dawson lost 3 and 1 to Australia's world No 13 Min Woo Lee having won two matches and halved another with Germany's Marc Hammer over the first two days.
Europe still needed three more points to retain the trophy and were up in two, and down in three, of the five remaining matches.
Spain's Angel Hidalgo fought back from two-down with four holes to play to secure half a point and Sweden's Oliver Gillberg overturned a two-hole deficit with six to play to win by one hole.
Norway's Kristoffer Reitan won by one hole but France's Frederic Lacroix lost 3&2, meaning the outcome of the match would come down to the final hole between Matthew Jordan and Osawa Kazuya.
Jordan needed to win the 18th hole to score the half-point Europe needed to retain the trophy and had a two-metre putt to do so but missed and the hole was halved, meaning Asia-Pacific took the match.
Kristoffer Reitan was the highest scorer of the European team for the week. The Norwegian won a fourball and foursomes match alongside Rasmus Hojgaard in addition to his win in the singles.
Bonallack Trophy: Europe 15.5 - 16.5 Asia-Pacific
https://www.golfbox.dk/livescoring/tour/#/competition/1394373/teamcup
Paula Grant reads a putt in Doha. Picture: EGA
In the Patsy Hankins Trophy, Asia-Pacific secured victory at the end of day two after winning eight of the day's ten matches.
Europe only managed one victory over the first two days, which was delivered by Bianca Fabrizio and Blanca Fernandez.
Paula Grant watches an iron shot. Picture: EGA
Despite the match already being decided, the European ladies were more successful in the singles with Blanca Fernandez, Annabell Fuller, Isobel Wardle, Zhen Bontan and Grant — who beat Chinese Taipei's Yu-Chiang Hou 5 and 3 — all winning.
Atthaya Thitikul, winner of the inaugural Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship earlier this year, and her foursomes and fourball partner, Yuka Saso, both impressively won all five of the matches they played.
The highest scorer on the European team for the week was England's Annabell Fuller, who halved three matches alongside Puk Lyng Thomsen in addition to her 7&6 win in the singles.
Patsy Hankins Trophy: Europe 8.5 - 23.5 Asia-Pacific
https://www.golfbox.dk/livescoring/tour/#/competition/1436198/teamcup
