Japan end Nomura Cup drought

Abu Dhabi - The 72-hole strokeplay event in Abu Dhabi was organised by the Emirates Golf Federation and Yas Links Abu Dhabi on behalf of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation.

 Japan ended a 26-year wait to clinch the Nomura Cup at the Yas Links on Sunday.
In a nail-biting count-back finish, which called on Japan's fourth man Toshiki Ishitoku's closing round of 75 to count, the Japanese team edged out their competitors from Chinese Taipei to claim the 27th edition of the Championship.
The 72-hole strokeplay event in Abu Dhabi was organised by the Emirates Golf Federation and Yas Links Abu Dhabi on behalf of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation.
The event was eventually decided on count-back, after both Japan and Chinese Taipei finished the week on a total of 842, 22-under par, collected from the best three of four scores each day.
The Japanese Team of Daisuke Matsubara, Naoyuki Kataoka, Takumi Kanaya and Toshiki Ishitoku received the trophy from Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
Helped by an opening round 10-under par, 62 by Daisuke Matsubara, Team Japan have been on a sharp learning curve since welcoming their new coach, Gareth Jones little over three weeks ago. The team's Captain, Katsuii Hotta was clearly buoyed by the victory and was quick to praise Japan's new coach. "It has been a long 26 years for Japan, this means a lot to us, this is huge," said Hotta.
The team from Chinese Taipei consisting of Han-Ting Chiu, Chun-An Yu, Yung-Hua Liu and Sun-Yi Lu had lead from Day One but faltered in the final few holes.
Chinese superstar Cheng Jin won the individual event at the Nomura Cup with a dominant 13-under par total. He will play in the 2016 US Masters following his victory earlier this month at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
james@khaleejtimes.com