Taipei: Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang believes the achievements of his countrymen on the Asian Tour have served as a great motivation for him to emulate their success as he begins his title bid at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) on Thursday.

The 26-year-old topped his country’s Order of Merit in 2010 and has been touted as the next generation of stars to emerge from Chinese Taipei after the likes of Lu Liang-huan and T.C Chen who helped put the spotlight on Chinese Taipei with their runner-up finishes at the British Open and US Open in 1971 and 1985 respectively.

In recent times, the country’s flag bearer belonged to Asian Tour winners like Lin Wen-tang, Lu Wen-teh, Chan Yih-shin who have between themselves a total of 12 Tour victories.

“I look up to these great players and I always tell myself that I’ll get to where they are one day,” said Chan.

Chan posted an opening even-par-72 at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship and is hopeful that he will better his result from last year’s edition where he held the third round lead before crumbling to pressure on the final day to eventually finish in seventh place.

“I played well in the first three rounds last year but was really nervous in the final round. Looking back, I guess it was my strong desire to win my first Asian Tour title that made me feel that way,” recalled Chan.

“However, I’m back with more experience and confidence and hopefully I can end the week with a better result,” added Chan.

Chan has also credited Lin, a five-time Asian Tour winner, for helping develop him into a better player.

“I’m very grateful to Lin for helping me improve on my short game. He’s one of the country’s best players and to have him as my mentor is definitely an honour,” said Chan.

Lin opened his campaign with a 67 to take fourth place, two shots behind first round leader Angelo Que of the Philippines.

By Indian Sports News Network