周日,在墨尔本举行的总统杯媒体发布会上,中国高尔夫球手吴亚顺(左)和李浩通与国际队队长埃尔斯合影留念。提供给中国日报的照片显示,李浩通在明年墨尔本皇家大学举行的总统杯的国际队比赛中,正紧锣密鼓地准备迎接挑战。排名第三的世界排名第42的埃尔尼将在12月9-15日的世界杯上晋级12人阵容。而成为中国在两年一次的活动中的第一位代表的前景,正是这位23岁的新星的精神所在。”去年,我错过了让球队成为有点失望的几个位置。“我认为这是我进入球队的一个新机会,我们希望这次能赢,”李在墨尔本国际队新标志揭幕仪式上说。特别的是,如果你组成了球队,你就知道你必须在一段时间内打得很好。这对我来说是最重要的。”为厄尼演奏会很特别。去年我和他一起参加了英国公开赛,从那以后他一直很支持我的职业生涯。”他会成为一个好船长的。这对我们来说将是一个巨大的荣誉,希望我能加入球队并赢得比赛。”李可以和同胞吴阿顺一起加入ELS的球队。现年33岁的吴邦国目前排名第11,与李邦国以及印度的阿尼尔班·拉希里(Anirban Lahiri)、韩国的金思宇(Kim Si-woo)、委内瑞拉的乔纳坦·维加斯(Jhonatan Vegas)和墨西哥的亚伯拉罕·安塞尔(Abraham Ancer)一起出席了该标志的揭幕仪式。和李泽楷一样,吴邦国也为中国的前景感到兴奋。”“总统杯对我们来说非常重要,因为它是我们唯一可以参加的球队比赛,”世界排名178位的吴说。加入球队是很特别的,因为以前没有中国高尔夫球手进入过球队。”在皇家墨尔本打球会很好。这个标志设计很漂亮,我很喜欢。要想让我们国家的国旗出现在这个标志上,你就要在锦标赛中发挥更大的作用。”四届主要冠军南非ELS在谈到新的标志时说:“这是一个来自世界各地的特殊的人组成的总统杯国际队。”作为来自世界各地的人,我们并非都是为同一面旗帜而战。这群特殊的人需要一些认同感。为了提升团队精神,我们觉得自己需要一个标志。”有了这个标志,我们就可以团结在一起,仍然代表我们的国家和国旗,这是我们所有人都可以成为的一部分,都可以落后。”这里的球员代表着这支球队的未来,澳大利亚、韩国等传统国家与墨西哥、泰国、印度和中国等新兴高尔夫发展国家混在一起。“回到皇家墨尔本将标志着该赛事25年历史上第三次在著名的桑德贝尔特公司上演。”2002年,埃尔斯获得喜力经典赛冠军。墨尔本是1998年唯一一场国际比赛的胜利者,当时一支由彼得·汤姆森担任队长的球队以20.5比11.5击败了杰克·尼克劳斯的美国队。2011年,弗雷德夫妇带领美国队以19比15战胜了格雷格·诺曼的国际比赛。本次锦标赛将以美国前12名选手和全球前12名选手为特色,欧洲除外。nbsp;
Chinese golfers Wu Ashun (left) and Li Haotong pose for a selfie with International team captain Ernie Els at a Presidents Cup media briefing on Sunday in Melbourne. Photo provided to China Daily

Li Haotong is raring to take the challenge to the United States as he closes on a spot in the International team for next year's Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

Sitting third in the team's selection rankings, the world No 42 looks set to make it onto Ernie Els' 12-man squad for the Dec 9-15 tournament.

And the prospect of becoming China's first representative at the biennial event is one that has the rising 23-year-old star psyched.

"Last year, I missed making the team by like a couple of spots which was a bit disappointing. I think it's a new opportunity for me to get into the team and we hope to win it this time," said Li at the unveiling of the International team's new logo in Melbourne.

"The special thing is that if you make the team, you know you have to play really solid over a span of time. That's the main thing for me.

"It'll be special to play for Ernie. I played with him at the British Open last year and he's always supported my career a lot since then.

"He'll be a good captain. It's going to be a huge honor for us, and hopefully I can get on the team and win the event."

Li could be joined by compatriot Wu Ashun in Els' squad.

The 33-year-old Wu, who is currently 11th in the rankings, joined Li and fellow International hopefuls Anirban Lahiri of India, South Korea's Kim Si-woo, Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas and Mexico's Abraham Ancer at the logo unveiling.

Like Li, Wu is excited at the prospect of doing China proud Down Under.

"The Presidents Cup for us is very important as it's the only team competition that we can play in," said Wu, who is ranked 178th in the world.

"It'll be special to get in the team as no Chinese golfer has made it into the team before.

"It'll be good to play at Royal Melbourne. The logo design is beautiful, I like it a lot. To have our country's flag in the logo, it makes you want to play even more in the tournament."

Elaborating on the new badge, South African Els, a four-time major winner, said: "It's a special group of guys from all over the world that make up the Presidents Cup International team.

"Being from across the globe, we don't all play for the same flag. This special group of people needed something to identify with. To lift the spirit of the team, we felt like we needed a logo for ourselves.

"To have this logo to bond us together and still represent our countries and our flags, is something we can all be a part of and all get behind.

"The players here represent the future of this team, with traditional countries like Australia and Korea mixed together with some new, emerging countries where golf is growing, like Mexico, Thailand, India and China."

The return to Royal Melbourne will mark the third time in the event's 25-year history it has been staged at the renowned Sandbelt course, where Els was a Heineken Classic winner in 2002.

Melbourne holds the distinction as the site of the Internationals' lone victory in 1998, which saw a Peter Thomson-captained team defeat Jack Nicklaus' Americans, 20.5 to 11.5.

In 2011, Fred Couples led the US to a 19-15 win over Greg Norman's Internationals.

The tournament will feature the top 12 players from the US against the top 12 from across the globe, excluding Europe.