asia is one of the smaller groupings,
because several of the area teams belong to the small and large islands grouping.
the odds on favorite among the mainland teams is vietnam.
bac tran leads team vietnam with 34 yards,
and they have the wily veteran van da bui to provide big-race experience.
but the real strength of team vietnam is their depth,
with all 15 members at 24 hours or better.
it is going to be a challenge for any of the asian teams to stay with vietnam.
if anyone can challenge it is pakistan.
while they cannot match the depth of the vietnamese team,
pakistan has a couple of heavy hitters on their team.
jamal said (50) and fida muhammad (49) provide a punch noe of the other asian teams can match
(at least on paper)
the question is whether the other team members can keep the score close enough to the tough vietnamese contingent
for the power hitters to come into play!
of course, it would be foolish to overlook india.
rakesh kashyap (32) and laishram singh (30) lead a strong top end of the team.
the bottom end is mostly unknown in terms of potential.
if the bottom end of the batting order performs above expectations,
india could have a shot at being the top asian team.
and then there is malaysia.
malaysia is seeded last among the asian teams,
despite boasting willie david christopher (49) on their team.
there are a couple of questions behind willie;
can the number two man, chin yong (28) unleash a breakout performance and push willie into big numbers
and can the back end of the roster come up big on game day?
four teams,
with four different paths to victory.
all four actually have a shot at winning,
everything rides on how the day(s) unfold.
the asia competition ought to be a blast for people who like to play with numbers.
