Andy and Diana lift titles at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club

Andrews did most his work round 1 when a level par 72 gave him an 8 shot cushion over second placed George Liu who carded and 8 over par 80.

Round 2 was played in treacherous conditions with strong winds making scoring extremely tough over the 7,300 yard layout.

Andy made a solid start to round 2 as a birdie 2 on the par 3, 3^rd hole gave him 10 shot lead over Liu.

A triple bogey 8 on the 4^th gave Liu a glimmer of hope as he parred to reduce the deficit to 6.

This gap was maintained on through 23 holes until another 8, this time by Liu, on the 6^th put pay to any remaining hopes.

Andy returned an 83 as Liu, trying to make an impression on the leaders advantage, started to make too many errors. Liu in the end scored a disappointing 89 but achieved his 3^rd podium finish in the events 3 year history.

Liu was eventually upturned by South Korean TH Cho who produced the low score of the second round.

His 82, which included a back 9 of just 38, saw him leapfrog Liu finishing on 167, 12 shots behind Andy.

In the ladies division a similar story unfolded.

Diana only had a 3 shot lead over Sue Bargh through round 1 but her nearest opponents, Bargh and Jacqui Stewart, couldn’t put any round 2 pressure on the overnight leader meaning Diana only had to avoid high numbers to be sure of lifting the converted title for the first time.

This was achieved with no scores recorded above a 7 as Diana duplicated her first round score in much tougher conditions for a 36 hole total of 198.

In the net categories Sue Bargh took the ladies division after a strong charge by Normita Demesa and the Korean’s dominated the men’s pool with J. W. Choi (146), Golden Kim (145) and T. H. Kim (141) taking the top 3 net slots. Hassan Yazdi unfortunately finished 4^th in both categories with an aggressive play on the 36^th hole, in an attempt to catch 3^rd placed Liu, cost him dear.

Malaysia Truly Asia, represented by Tuan Razli and Orient Travel, represented by Khalid Abdul Aziz, and SGSC and Orient Irrigation officials attended the closing function.