Asia must pump up in today's four-ball play after they trailed the star-studded Europeans by three-and-a-half to a half in the foursomes yesterday at the Amata Spring Country Club.

The scorching heat did not benefit Joe Ozaki's Asian side and the strong winds turned out to favour the Seve Ballesteros's squad in play that saw three European pairs barely find a challenge from the hosts.

SK Ho of South Korea and Toru Taniguchi of Japan chased after Ryder Cup duo Darren Clarke of Ireland and Lee Westwood of England all afternoon before deciding to surrender 4&3 to hand the first point to Europe.

The defending champions' side celebrated their second point when Swedish duo Johan Edfors and Henrik Stenson, who had a bogey-free day, outclassed local Cup debutant Prom Meesawat and Japan's Tetsuji Hiratsuka 6&5.

Asian's best attempt came by Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Jeev Milkha Singh of India and YE Yang of South Korea, who kept Asia from a whitewash by tieing with Anthony Wall of England and Paul McGinley of Ireland.

The country's top duo, Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant, also found themselves falling behind Niclas Fasth and Robert Karlsson of Sweden from the front nine and decided to wave the white flags at 3&1 when the Scandinavians sank two successive birdies at the 16th and 17th.

The scoreline was not an ideal start for Asian skipper Ozaki, who had expected one point from the opening day. But he still managed to smile.

"I will try to smile and forget about the first day. I am impressed by the way the Europeans played today. I was so tired as a first-time captain,'' said Ozaki, who expected the local pair of Thongchai and Thaworn to win yesterday.

"It would have been great for the local fans and would have brought something for the country if they had won. I believe they tried their best and will play differently tomorrow,'' said Ozaki in his debut as a team-event captain.

With the big lead, Ballesteros looked very relaxed. "I'm happy that our team lead by three-and-a half to a half instead of 3-1, as I'd expected.

"But I still have respect for the Asian team, which is capable of fighting back tomorrow in the four-ball, which is unpredictable,'' said the Spaniard, who orchestrated Europe to a 9-7 win in the first edition 12 months ago.

Ballesteros pointed out that experience played a significant role in this team competition which has been far more familiar for the European camp.

"Obviously the Asian team lack experience. My team has played both the Ryder Cup and the Royal Trophy last year, which has given them more experience,'' he added.

Thai stalwart Thongchai claimed he and Thaworn had given their best but it was just not good enough to handle Fasth and Karlsson, who like the rest of the European players used their physical advantage to produce long drives.

"The course is suitable for long drivers. Today we played well, but the European pair did not lose strokes easily,'' said Thongchai, who will team up with Prom against Clarke and Westwood in today's first  four-ball, starting at 11.15am.

"I'm more comfortable with the four-ball because if one fails, the other can make it up for you. It's OK for me to play with Prom as he is still young but needs to get experience,'' added Thongchai, whose plan is to be aggressive and go for the flags.

While Ballesteros stuck with his original pairings, Ozaki made a reshuffle in his line-up, which is based on pairing long drivers with short-game players despite controversy about the language barrier of his team, which is made up of players from four countries.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation

Chon Buri