Samui, Thailand: Veteran star Mardan Mamat believes the euphoria of winning his first team event for Singapore will spur him to greater heights when he reignites his title ambitions at the US$300,000 Queen’s Cup which tees off on Thursday.
Sanctioned by the Asian Tour, the Queen’s Cup, which is sponsored by Bangkok Airways and Sports Authority of Thailand, is held in honour of Her Majesty, Queen Sirikit and is one of four tournaments in Thailand to feature on the Asian Tour, which is celebrating its milestone 10th season after establishing itself as a players’ organisation in 2004.
The 45-year-old Mardan received a timely boost when he played a big role in giving his country its first victory over Malaysia in a Ryder Cup style event, the Causeway Trophy, last week.
He is hoping to produce similar fireworks on the holiday isle of Koh Samui as he chases a fourth Asian Tour title.
“It was a great feeling winning for Singapore. That win provided a huge boost to my confidence and I hope to show the same kind of form in an individual event,” said Mardan, who was unbeaten throughout three days last week.
Mardan’s three Asian Tour victories have been achieved in India, Singapore and the Philippines but it is a first win in Thailand which the Singaporean is hoping to achieve against a stellar line-up led by title holder Thaworn Wiratchant, current Asian Tour number one Kiradech Aphibarnrat and no fewer than 33 other Asian Tour champions.
“I had a good warm-up both physically and mentally. This course (Santiburi Samui Country Club) is going to be very hilly and I’m glad I had that much-needed practice in almost similar terrains last week. I’m playing well and hopefully I can win again on the Asian Tour,” said Mardan, who has finished fifth in Santiburi Samui in 2007.
Danny Chia, who holds the distinction of being the first Malaysian winner on the Asian Tour when he won the Taiwan Open back in 2002, will be seeking to end his long title drought at an event which he rates as one of his favourites.
“This is one of the events that I always look forward to when I plan my schedule. It’s a challenging golf course and hopefully I can put up a strong showing,” said Chia, who represented Malaysia in the team event last week.
“I had a good practice before coming over to Samui where I learnt a lot about my golf. I’ve managed to reassess my strengths and weaknesses and hopefully, I can pull off a great result,” added the Malaysian.
No fewer than 23 nations will be represented at the Queen’s Cup and it will be left to local hopefuls like Thaworn and Kiradech to put up a strong challenge so as to keep the trophy on home soil again after the former’s victory last year.
All four past champions of the event - Chinnarat Phadungshil (2009), Chawalit Plaphol (2010), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (2011) and Thaworn Wiratchant (2012) -will be participating in this year’s edition. Other Asian Tour winners expected to mount a strong challenge include India’s Anirban Lahiri, Australia’s Scott Hend, Bangladesh’s Siddikur and Angelo Que of the Philippines.
The Queen’s Cup will be broadcast live on True Sport and also featured on the Asian Tour Golf and Highlights show.