China set to take on the world
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E-mail China Daily, September 7, 2018
China is among six Asian teams that have earned the right to compete at November's ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf.
Should he confirm his entry, 24-year-old Li Haotong of Hunan will be hoping to go one better than his last appearance at the Melbourne tournament in 2016, when the world No 52 and playing partner Wu Ashun finished tied for second behind Danish duo Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen.
South Korea, Thailand, India, Chinese Taipei and Japan complete the Asian contingent after an entry list of 28 countries and regions was provisionally decided following the delayed conclusion of the PGA Tour's Dell Technologies Championship in Massachusetts on Tuesday.
The 59th staging of the event, set to be contested Nov 21-25 at the Metropolitan Golf Club in the Australian city, will feature 28 two-man teams based on the Official World Golf Ranking.
The top-ranked player from each team has until Sept 13 to confirm his entry to the tournament. If he does not commit, the option will be passed to the next highest-ranked player.
Alternate teams can potentially qualify if the top-ranked player from one of the qualified 28 countries and regions does not commit, and the next highest-ranked player is lower in the rankings than a player from an alternate country.
For instance, if Canada's Adam Hadwin declines to play, the next eligible player from Canada is Graham DeL-aet, who is ranked 260th.
Since Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe is ranked higher than DeLaet, Vincent and Zimbabwe would then take over Canada's position.
Once all 28 entries have their committed player, he has until Sept 20 to pick his partner.
The full 56-player field, which will vie for the largest prize pool in Australian golf, will be announced at that time.
Japan and Chinese Taipei are the only Asian teams to have won the event.
Torakichi Nakamura and Koichi Ono delivered a popular home win for Japan in 1957, while Toshimitsu Izawa and Shigeki Maruyama teamed up for a second Japanese triumph in Mexico in 2002, which was also the last time an Asian country won the event.
Hsieh Min-nan and Lu Liang-huan earned Chinese Taipei's lone World Cup success in 1972 at Royal Melbourne.
The ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf is one of five tournaments co-sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours, joining the four events in the World Golf Championships series as tournaments which the federation oversees.
The qualified entrants are: 1. United States, 2. England, 3. Spain, 4. Italy, 5. Ireland, 6. Australia, 7. Sweden, 8. Japan, 9. South Africa, 10. Thailand, 11. Denmark, 12. South Korea, 13. China, 14. Argentina, 15. Canada, 16. Scotland, 17. Belgium, 18. New Zealand, 19. Venezuela, 20. France, 21. Austria, 22. India, 23. Netherlands, 24. Chinese Taipei, 25. Finland, 26. Mexico, 27. Germany, 28. Chile.
Alternates: 1. Zimbabwe, 2. Paraguay, 3. Malaysia, 4. Wales, 5. Greece.
