Greater Noida: Sri Lanka's Mithun Perera hopes his wish of winning his first Asian Tour title will come true when the 1.8 million euro Avantha Masters gets underway at the Jaypee Greens Golf Course here on Thursday.
The Sri Lankan was on the verge of creating history at the Asian Tour season-opening event in Myanmar but was pipped to second place by Order of Merit leader Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand.
"That result in Myanmar really gave me lots of confidence as that has kept up my rankings on the Asian Tour. I feel proud to be the first Sri Lankan to hold a full card on the Asian Tour and my target is to win at least one event this year," said Mithun.
With his recent form, the Sri Lankan is confident that he can do better than his debut performance when he finished tied-29th last year. "I had a good finish last year and it's exciting to be back again. There are many good players this week and it'll be great to play against them," said Mithun.
A stellar field that consists of no fewer than 38 Asian Tour winners including three Order of Merit champions is poised to make the Avantha Masters an intriguing contest as a host of Ryder Cup stars from the European Tour have also confirmed their participation.
Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, the most prolific British winner in European Tour history, will make his first appearance at the Avantha Masters. He will be joined by Ryder Cup stars Ignacio Garrido of Spain, England's David Howell, Italy's Edoardo Molinari, Frenchman Thomas Levet and Welshman Philip Price.
The Asian Tour will feature top contenders including Singapore's Mardan Mamat, a three-time Tour winner, Sweden's Rikard Karlberg, Australia's Scott Hend and Korean-American David Lipsky.
Meanwhile 2010 Avantha Masters champion Andrew Dodt of Australia is looking to revive his career in a place where he savoured his maiden victory three years ago. The Australian has not reached the dizzy heights of his breakthrough year in 2010. He spent most of his 2012 season playing in Europe where his indifferent form almost caused him to lose his card.
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