By Lorna Campbell

Fortis International Challenge

Lam Chih Bing (left) and Mardan Mamat confer on a shot. (Photo © Asian Tour)

Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, September 18, 2008 – Day 1 of the Fortis International Challenge at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club saw Singapore's top two golfers Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat finish tied for second place from a field of 18 competing nations.

Fourball was the format for the opening day and this will be repeated on Day 3. The challenge of foursomes awaits the teams on Day 2 and Day 4 (Sunday).

After the round Lam said, "We left a lot of shots out there today; we couldn't seem to make the putts but despite that we're tied second so we'll take it."

Playing alongside the Korean pairing of Bae Sang-Moon and Kim Hyung-Tae, Singapore completed the front nine in two-under par (34) which included birdies on the third and seventh holes from Lam.

"I was expecting lower scores today. When we looked at the score board at the turn, nobody was making a move except Korea so we had a good chance" said Mamat.

The back nine saw Lam birdie the 10th and Mamat contributed three birdies for the team on the 11th, 12th and 18th. Both had steady rounds that were bogey free and a lot more consistent than the host team of Iain Steel and Danny Chia who ended a disappointing opener at one over par.

Top of the leader board are the Koreans at nine-under, finishing with an eagle on the final hole from Bae.

With three places in the World Cup up for grabs, the teams will be working hard tomorrow to reduce their scores in the foursomes and get into contention ahead of the final weekend. Singapore goes out with Ghana, who finished on five-under and tee-off at 9.10am.

"It is always enjoyable playing with Mardan and hopefully in the next three days we can get the job done. We've played together twice on this course before so very comfortable with the format tomorrow", said Lam.

Mamat echoed his teammate's sentiments. "We came here to do our job and get into the top three so that is our focus this week."

Hong Kong finished strongly with a birdie then eagle from David Freeman to shoot them into second place with Singapore. Title sponsor and Hong Kong-based Fortis has announced a team bonus for Freeman and partner Derek Fung of US$10,000 if they qualify for the World Cup. The last time Hong Kong made it was in 2003.

THE TEAMS
Bangladesh (Md Siddiqur Rahman, Md Jibon Ali), Brunei (Pengiran Hassanal, Faiz Damit) Ghana (Emos Korblah, Victor Bravemensah), Kenya (Dismas Indiza, Anil Shah), Korea (Bae Sang-moon, Kim Hyung-tae), Nigeria (Oyebanji Gboyega, Odoh Andrew Oche), Singapore (Mardan Mamat, Lam Chih Bing), Sri Lanka (Anura Rohana, Lalith Kumara), Pakistan (Muhammad Shabbir, Muhammad Munir), Myanmar (Soe Kyaw Naing, Zaw Zaw Latt), Hong Kong (Derek Fung, David Freeman), Nepal (Deepak Thapa Magar, Deepak Neupane), Italy (Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari), Indonesia (Junaedi Ibrahim, Sarmilih, Malaysia (Iain Steel, Danny Chia), Philippines (Angelo Que, Mars Pucay), Uganda (Deo Akope, Godfrey Mande), Swaziland (Robbie Wesselo, Meshak Zwane).

Fortis International Challenge

Lam Chih Bing tees off. (Photo © Asian Tour)