Poulter wants Fisher pairing to repeat 2004 win

Ian Poulter believes his pairing with Ross Fisher at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, which starts today in Shenzhen has the strength required to bring England success.

Poulter returns to China having guided his country to fourth place in Shenzhen last year alongside Justin Rose, while Fisher is making his England debut. Both players head into the tournament on the back of impressive performances over the last year, with Poulter finishing as Europe's leading points scorer at the Ryder Cup in September, while Fisher won the European Open in July on the way to a career-best sixth place on the European Tour's Order of Merit.

The opening round of the World Cup will be played in a fourball format while tomorrow is foursomes before it goes back to fourballs on Saturday with the final round on Sunday a foursomes. Poulter believes Fisher's ability to hit long off the tee, coupled with his own short game is capable of bringing England a first World Cup title since Paul Casey and Luke Donald combined to win it four years ago.

"Ross has been playing exceptionally well," Poulter said. "I like the way he hits the ball a long way off the tee, which I think is great in foursomes. The holes that I've looked at right now, certainly with some of the par fives, will be an advantage with Ross teeing off on those holes.

"He is also an aggressive player and that's great in four balls. I think how straight he hits it is a big bonus in foursomes, as well.

"That's why when it comes down to me to pick, I looked at Ross as a guy that's been very, very steady."

England's task will not be easy with a number of other strong contenders in the 28-team field. Colin Montgomerie returns to attempt a successful defence of the title he won 12 months ago for Scotland, and is joined by Alastair Forsyth, while Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson form a formidable partnership for Sweden.

"There's always going to be strong pairings in this format," added Poulter. "There are obviously a couple which stand out, Sweden being one of them. If you look at their world ranking position, they are very, very strong. I'm pretty confident that if we go out there and have fun, then we are going to be in the shake-up on Sunday afternoon."