KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5: In-form Thai pair Prayad Marksaeng and Thaworn Wiratchant will start as favourites to qualify for next month’s World Cup in Portugal in the Asian qualifier here starting on Thursday.

Twelve teams will tee up at Kota Permai Golf and Country Club where the top-two finishers will earn a crack at the four million dollars’ total prize money on offer in Portugal.

Host Malaysia’s quest has been bolstered by Iain Steel, who will partner seasoned campaigner Danny Chia. Steel, who is of Malaysian-Scottish parentage, has spent his professional career abroad including one season on the US PGA Tour.

Myanmar’s Kyi Hla Han, Asia’s number one in 1999, will partner Zaw Moe where he hopes to make it to his fifth World Cup with a fourth different partner.

Other teams tipped as contenders include Singapore (Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing), Taiwan (Wang Ter-chang and Chang Tse-peng) and the Philippines (Angelo Que and Gerald Rosales).

Finland and Slovenia are the only non-Asian teams appearing at the qualifier, which was also open to European and African nations. Also competing in the qualifying tournament are Pakistan pair of Mohammad Munir and Mohammad Shabbir.

However, many expect Thailand to earn one of the tickets available as Thaworn and Prayad are enjoying a rich vein of form, winning two of the last three events between them on the Asian Tour.

Their liking of the Kota Permai layout will work in their favour, as Thaworn, the current Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, won the 2001 Volvo Masters of Malaysia here — the same week that Prayad set a Tour record of eight consecutive birdies.

“This is my third time trying to qualify for the World Cup and it’ll be nice to do it with Prayad, who is a good friend of mine. My game is good right now and Prayad is also on form after winning last week in China” at the Crowne Plaza Open, said Thaworn.

Steel, who has won titles on the Canadian Tour and the secondary Tour in the United States, is relatively unknown in Malaysian golfing circles as he attended college in the US before earning his right to play on the US Tour in 1998.

“When I was growing up, I didn’t have a chance to represent Malaysia as no one paid attention to me. I have played mainly abroad since turning pro in 1996 and found only recently that I had to come forward to indicate my interest to represent Malaysia in the World Cup Qualifier,” said Steel, who is the highest ranked Malaysian in the world.

“I’ll probably ride on my horse (Chia) this week. I’m playing quite well, and feel confident. However, I’ll need to get used to the greens. Hopefully, Danny can lead me in the right direction on the greens and I can steer him away from trouble and use his distance to our advantage,” added the 34-year-old.

Big-hitting Chia, who has featured in two previous World Cups, is looking forward to playing alongside a new partner.

“He’s a consistent, steady golfer. I’ll be relying on him as well. But this week, we both have to putt well. The greens are good and there’s not much rough which means the team that putts well will qualify,” said Chia.

The first and third rounds will use the fourball better ball format while the second and final rounds will play the foursomes (alternate shot) format.

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