Mo Joong-kyung of South Korea is ecstatic as he makes a birdie putt on the 17th on Day I of the Dynasty Cup at Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen on Friday. (AFP)

Shenzhen: When the Asians rolled up their sleeves and went to work versus the Japanese in the Dynasty Cup this season, they sounded pretty confident of being able to reproduce the magic that saw them beating the islanders last time out. After Day I, though, not much of that optimism is on show.

Japan took 3.5-2.5 lead over Asia after the foursome matches on Day I of the Visa Dynasty Cup at the Mission Hills Golf Club on Friday.

India?s contribution to the Asian cause was nil on Friday as Jyoti Randhawa and Dynasty Cup debutant Amandeep Johl lost the day?s final match to Katsumasa Miyamoto and Hiroyuki Fujita 3 and 2.

Two years ago, Randhawa had won all his matches in the Ryder Cup style format event. Johl was a TV commentator the last time round.

Earlier, Mo Joong-kyung of South Korea and Angelo Que of the Philippines managed to equalise in the fifth match against Toru Suzuki and Tetsuji Hiratsuka.

The duo began by losing the first two holes on the 13th and 14th, They won the 16th and then Joong-kyung sank a seven-metre putt on the 17th to draw the match level and keep Asia in contention.

China?s Zhang Lianwei and Liang Wenchong and Thailand?s Boonchu Ruangkit and Marksaeng Prayad got Asia off a flying start by bagging the first two matches.

The Chinese duo defeated Shigeki Maruyama and Keiichiro Fukabori 2-1, while the Thais beat Shingo Katayama and Takashi Kamiyama.

After that, it was downhill as Thailand?s Thaworn Wiratchant and Thammanoon Srirot lost 5 and 4 to Hideki Kase and Ryoken Kawagishi.

Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand paired up with Mardan Mamat of Singapore but Tomohiro Kondo and Takuya Taniguchi outclassed them 5 and 3.

For Randhawa, who has been playing on the Nippon circuit for some time, this would have been a watershed event. His next match, hence, becomes extremely crucial.