Royal Trophy cancelled and rescheduled for 2009

The January 11-13 contest was postponed following the death of Thai Princess Galyani Vadhana, the sister of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who donated the trophy.

Organisers Entertainment Group had hoped to reschedule the event for later this year but no suitable date could be found, Lincoln Venancio, managing director of EG, said.

"We looked at the golf calendar and it was full, and January is such an attractive time to hold the competition, so we decided to wait until 2009 for the third edition," he told Reuters.

He said other dates were unsuitable because they clashed with Majors or came during Thailand's hot or rainy seasons.

Europe won the first two editions of the Royal Trophy, which is to be held in Thailand until 2010.

The competition has so far attracted some of the world's top players, with five-times Major winner Seve Ballesteros captain of the European team since the inaugural contest in 2006.

Venancio said the postponement would give organisers more time to bring in the best players, which could include those from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands, who would play for the Asian team.

"This will be the top item on the agenda for the third edition," he said. "This will make the competition stronger, these players are competing at a very high level."

The possibility of increasing the team sizes from eight to 10 would also be looked at, Venancio added.

January 22, 2008