Jeev, Jyoti to represent India at Omega Mission Hills World Cup

New Delhi, Sep 15 (UNI) Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa will represent India at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup Golf scheduled to be held in Shenzhen, China, from November 27 to 30.

India has earned a direct qualification for prestigious team competition.

Jeev, currently ranked 64 in the official world golf rankings, earned the direct berth for India by virtue of his ranking while his partner Jyoti Randhawa, is the next highest ranked Indian professional at 102.

This is only the third occasion that India has earned a direct qualification for the World Cup finals. Earlier, India had earned direct qualification for the World Cup in 2005 and 2007.

In 2005, the Indians had put up their best performance at the event as the team of Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal had finished a creditable ninth.

Jeev will make his debut at the World Cup and his presence augurs well for the Indian team as he has been in supreme form this year.

Jeev has won the Bank Austria Golf Open and the Nagashima Shegio Invitational Cup besides posting runner-up finishes at the Indonesia Open and the Ballantines Championship this year.

The 2006 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner has four other top 10 finishes to his credit this year which also witnessed Jeev record the two best finishes by an Indian at a Major, tied ninth at the PGA Championship and tied 25th at the US Masters.

The Chandigarh golfer is currently second on the Asian Tour Order of Merit and 14th on the European Tour Order of Merit.

Reacting to his selection Jeev said, ''It is my first World Cup.

I am excited and positive about a good showing this year. Jyoti being a very strong player, we will make a good team at the World Cup.'' Jyoti has also come up with some impressive performances this season. His best performances came at the Sail Open and the BMW PGA Championship where he finished tied second and fifth respectively.

The 2002 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion registered four more top 10 finishes this year. He is currently placed seventh on the Asian Tour Order of Merit and 55th on the European Tour Order of Merit.

''It is always a matter of honour and pride to be playing for the country and under the Indian flag. It would be great to team up with Jeev.

''I think this is the best team going out of the country right now. I am looking forward to this event,'' said Jyoti, who makes his third appearance at the World Cup.

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