September 13, 2003	Saturday	Rajab 15, 1424

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LAHORE, Sept 12: Pakistan with four-day aggregate score of 888 to finish fourth after edging past India in the Asia Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship which recently concluded at the Links Golf Club, Port Douglas, Australia.

A Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF) spokesman said on Friday that the Pakistan team comprised Aimal Zaman (captain), Tariq Mehmood, Waqas Ahmad and Shahid Javed.

Australia won the championship with total score of 832, while South Korea came in second and Japan and New Zealand jointly shared third position.

Pakistan after beating India gained fourth slot along with The Philippines, the spokesman said.

India, displayed erratic performance on the first three days as compared to the consistency of the Pakistanis, staged a brilliant comeback on the final day with a score of 215, but even then with 890 tcame in fifth.

The break-up of the Pakistan scores on all the four days was 221, 222, 225 and 220.

Pakistan placed fourth came out with the best ever showing at this international level and through their performance, the Pakistan amateur golf team managed to win the respect of those champions who were established in the world, the spokesman said.

Aimal, a seasoned golfer, captained the side well to become the first captain to lead a Pakistani golf team to such heights. The youngsters, Waqas, Tariq and Shahid turned out to be fighters and were really helped by the presence of Aimal.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Golf Federation secretary Iftikhar Khan stated that this performance would enable Pakistan to be a part of the APGC golf team that will play against Europe team in April 2004.

Iftikhar said that the Indian side had the established player in the rank like Vikrant Chopra , the Asian Games golf medalist but their losing to Pakistan was a further tribute to Pakis-tan team commendable showing.

Besides, Pakistan, India, The Philippines and the host Australia the other countries which took part in the competition were South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Guam, United Arab Emirates and Nepal.