Bangalore, March 13 (IANS): India's No.1 ranked amateur golfer Karan Taunk of Jamshedpur will star for the 12-member Team Asia-Pacific as they take on Team Europe at the Karnataka Golf Association course here March 26-28.
Taunk, who was also a winner of 2013 Indian Golf Union's national rankings, has decided to delay his joining the professional ranks so that he can be part of the upcoming Europe vs Asia-Pacific match for the Bonallack Trophy, and will compete in his first tournament as a professional right after playing in this event.
The 25-year-old Taunk said: "When I got a call from Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Vice Chairman Dilip Thomas to represent the Asia Pacific team in the Bonallack Trophy, having heard a lot about this prestigious event, I couldn't say no and accepted his offer.
"Now, I am working hard on my game especially on shaping my shots with my coach Bamby Randhawa so that I can win my matches against the strong European contingent in the upcoming Inter-continental battle."
Regarding his preparations, Taunk said: "I will play at least 2-3 rounds at the KGA before the week of the event to get a fair idea of the fast paced greens and course conditions.
"At the start of any big match, I feel nervous but I will try and avoid that this time and just focus on a consistent round.
"Having played with my fellow team members Chieh-Po Lee of Chinese Taipei and Taylor MacDonald of Australia in the past, I am quite excited about meeting them in 10 days' time."
Winner of the 2013 Bangladesh Amateur Championship, Taunk, who shifted base from Jamshedpur to Bangalore to work on his game last year, commented: "I didn't have many options to improve my game in Jamshedpur and my friend Kurursh from my hometown persuaded me to move to Bangalore.
"The best part about being in Bangalore with the great weather and facilities is I am able to spend at least six hours practising every day."
Bangalore lad Khalin Joshi, who represented Asia-Pacific Team in the 2012 edition of the Bonallack Trophy in Portugal, said: "It was great a tournament and I still carry a lot of memories from what I picked up from there.
"I am so happy that Karan Taunk has taken a decision of playing in this prestigious tournament. He is such a great player and I think what I have gained from this tournament that he should just play his natural game and should treat it just like any other tournament without putting any extra pressure on himself."
The Asia-Pacific team will be represented by Taylor MacDonald (AUS), Geoff Drakeford (AUS), Soo-min Lee (KOR), Nam-hun Kam (KOR), Chieh-Po Lee (TPI), Shinichi Mizuno (HKG), Zecheng Dou (CHN), Jin Cheng (CHN), Kenta Konishi (JPN), Daichi Sato (JPN), Joshua Munn (NZ) and Karan Taunk (IND).
Players who will represent the European team are: Ashley Chesters (ENG), Albert Eckhardt (FIN), Ryan Evans (ENG), Dominic Foos (GER), Mario Galiano Aguilar (ESP), Dermot McElroy (IRL), Gavin Moynihan (IRL), Robbie Van West (NED), Renato Paratore (ITA), James Ross (SCO), Max Roehrig (GER) and Mads Soegaard (DEN).
Andrew B Morgan of Wales will lead the European team while Hyung-mo Kang of Korea will lead the Asia-Pacific team.