A total of 20 nations will tee up in the Fortis International Challenge at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club in Malaysian from September 27-30 vying for five qualifying places in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China.
Two-man teams from Asia, Europe and Africa will chase five spots in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China from November 22-25.
While the Italian duo of Francesco Molinari and Emanuel Canonica provided the European flair at last year’s qualifier, this year’s challenge will be led by Maarten Lafeber and Robert-Jan Derksen of Holland, both European Tour winners.
Derksen, winner of the Dubai Desert Classic in 2003 and Madeira Island Open in 2005, and Lafeber, the Dutch Open champion in 2003, have enjoyed success in Malaysia previously when they teamed up for the qualifier in 2001 and earned a place in the World Cup by finishing tied fifth. They have since played in two other World Cups together in 2004 and 2005.
Switzerland’s Martin Rominger, who competes on the Asian Tour , will be looking for a second successive appearance in the World Cup but he will have a new partner by his side in the form of Robert Wiederkehr.
The home team of Malaysia will be represented by Airil Rizman and Iain Steel.
The Fortis International Challenge will use the fourball format in the first and third rounds and foursomes in the second and final rounds.
A total of 18 teams will qualify automatically for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup through the Official World Golf Rankings. Five qualifying places are available at the Fortis International Challenge and Nations Cup in South America respectively, which will bring the total number of teams for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup to 28.
The teams who have entered the Fortis International Challenge are as follows:
Chinese Taipei(Lin Wen-tang, Lin Wen-hong)
Ghana(Emos Korblah, Victor Brave Mensah)
Holland(Robert Jan Derksen, Maarten Lafeber)
Hong Kong(James Stewart, Wong Woon Man)
Iceland(Birgir Leifur Hatthorsson, Sigurpall Geir Sveinsson)
Korea(Lee Sung, Lee Seung-ho)
Myanmar(Zaw Moe, Soe Kyaw Naing)
Malaysia(Iain Steel, Airil Rizman)
Mauritius(Billy Narraina, Vishnoo Seeneevassen)
New Zealand(Stephen Scahill, Richard Lee)
Nigeria(Odoh Andrew Oche, Umoh Michaeledet)
Nepal(Shiva Ram Shrestha, Sachin Bhattarai)
Pakistan(Muhammad Munir, Muhammad Shabbir)
Philippines(Tony Lascuna, Gerald Rosales)
Russia(Korchak Igor, Ostankov Victor)
Swaziland(Meshack Zwane, Moses Shongwe)
Singapore(Lam Chih Bing, Mardan Mamat)
Switzerland(Martin Rominger, Robert Wiederkehr)
Slovenia(Andrej Kraljic, Janez Grilc)
Uganda(Deo Akope, Godfrey Mande).
