The Bonallack Trophy will remain Asia-Pacific’s property for two more years. The visiting team emerged victorious from the final day singles, although Europe came very close to a miracle comeback.
With a five-point deficit at the end of day 2, there was no other way to victory for Europe than to put maximal pressure on their opponents in the early matches. And the home team did so very well, with both top and bottom of the leaderboard covered in blue at the halfway stage.
Playing in the top match, Norway’s Herman Sekne scored a first key point for Europe, beating Australia’s Harrison Crowe, 1 up despite being one down with two to play. It quickly became clear that the momentum had indeed shifted back, with the Europeans scoring three unanswered points.
First wins of the day for Asia-Pacific came with Korea’s Wooyoung Cho and Yubin Jang. But with Europeans winning the last two singles of the session, the decision came down to matches 8, 9 and 10.
Spain’s Luis Masaveu made a massive birdie putt on the 15th to square his match against Vietnam’s Nguyen Anh Minh. But he also missed a big opportunity on the 17th, and was only able to come out with a half.
James Ashfield built a solid three-hole lead against Jack Buchanan in match number 9. But the Australian shifted up a gear on the back 9, eventually securing a crucial full point for Asia-Pacific on the 17th.
The visitors thus reached the 16-point mark and made sure to retain the trophy. But Japan’s Yuta Sugiura still had to at least halve with England’s Barclay Brown to clinch an outright win for Asia-Pacific. He succeeded in the task, thanks to an outstanding bunker shot on the final hole to win the match.
The European side outscored the winners by three points in the final session, but still came up two points short, with a final score of 17-15.