IMPROVING on their best-ever finish of 17th is what the Singaporean pair of Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing want to achieve at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, starting today in China.

After the pro-am event yesterday, Mardan and Lam expressed buoyant mood for the US$5.5 million ($7.7m) event at the Olazabal course at Mission Hills in Shenzhen.

In 2002, the duo finished joint-17th, then 20th in 2005 and 17th again in 2006.

Although Singapore are seeded 23rd, veteran Mardan feels that a top-16 finish is within their reach.

Said Mardan: 'Chih Bing and I have been playing well lately, and that is a good sign for a great finish in the four-day event.'

Singapore's best finish at the World Cup was in 1984 when Lim Swee Wah and Lim Kian Tiong finished joint-10th.

Even the last-placed team is guaranteed prize-money of US$20,000 to each player, and the 17th-placed team wins US$31,000 for either player.

Mardan is also happy that his 'golfing godfather' A. C. Wong, the former captain of Jurong Country Club who had guided him through his amateur and early-pro years, is at Mission Hills to render support to the Singaporean pair.

Singapore are one of one of nine Asian nations for the tournament, the others being India, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, the Philippines and Pakistan.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee has promised to place his country's honour above everything else as he seeks to win the World Cup with playing partner Prayad Marksaeng this week.

Fresh from winning an unprecedented third Asian Tour Order of Merit crown in Hong Kong a fortnight ago, Thongchai has now turned his attention to bringing glory to his country after a stellar season where he enjoyed wins in Indonesia and South Korea followed by a noteworthy tied-13th finish in the British Open.

'The World Cup is a world-class event. I enjoy coming here to play and have played here three times in a row already. But ultimately our aim is to do better than last year,' said the Asian Tour Order of Merit champion.

India, fielding Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa are the highest seeded Asian nation, one ahead of Thailand.