Joe Ozaki believes Asia 's first Royal Trophy triumph, spearheaded by Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa, will inspire a new generation of Asian golfers.

Ozaki says their 10-6 victory over Europe will also provide the platform for current Asian players to make a big impact on the global scene. The Asian captain admitted he flew into Bangkok sensing this could be a make or break year for his team's hopes of showing they could compete on level terms with the likes of Europe and the USA - and beat them.

He said: "I was thinking to myself on the flight from Japan that this was such an important year for team Asia , and for golf in the region as a whole. The eyes of the golfing world were on us, and we could not afford another heavy defeat like the one we suffered in 2007. We needed to show that we were not so far behind Europe and America as it appeared.

"To win in such glorious fashion will give these players much more belief in themselves when they take on even stronger teams - and when they compete in Majors and World Golf Championship events. And with so many people in Asia itself watching this victory, maybe it will give young players the motivation to do what Ishikawa has done, by making the team at the age of just 17.

"If we also have a Thai Ishikawa, a Korean Ishikawa and a Chinese Ishikawa in years to come, it will make us very difficult to beat indeed !"

The Japanese Ishikawa was, surprisingly, the least successful Asian player in terms of results. He managed just two half points from his three matches.

The real stars of the show were the Thai duo of Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng, who both finished with a maximum three points. That meant they shared the Sodick Award, created by the Japanese manufacturing giant to reward the players of the winning team for making the largest ‘point contribution’ to their continent.

But there is no doubt Ishikawa was the Asian team's talisman. He energized the galleries who flocked to watch him in action, and raised the tempo of the whole event by sinking outrageous putts - and by hitting the 617 yards 16th hole with a driver and an iron !

He was unfortunate to come up against Paul Lawrie and Soren Hansen - easily Europe 's best pairing - on each of the first two days, before earning a highly creditable half against Hansen in the first singles match.

The fact that he was first out on all three days underlined Ozaki's faith in his young countryman - and his acknowledgement that Ishikawa has become a Tiger Woods-style Pied Piper in terms of attracting headlines as well as spectators.

His achievements in winning his first Japan Golf Tour event as a 15 year old amateur – and following up by winning again and finishing second in two of Japan's biggest events in his first year as a professional - are certainly Tiger-like.

Ozaki, a Japanese golf legend himself, added: "Ishikawa's impact on the Royal Trophy went far beyond his bare results. He played great golf at times, he helped to get the huge galleries fired up, and he is a wonderful role model for all young Asian golfers. He will go onto bigger and better things - and so will team Asia , although the challenge now is for us to show this victory was not a one-off.

"We have to beat Europe regularly - maybe not every year, that would be asking too much - but at least as often as they beat us. It is an exciting and challenging prospect, and one that has made me think again about giving up the captaincy. That was my intention coming into this year's event, to give someone else a chance. But I too have been caught up in the mood of jubilation and I have to consider it seriously over the next few months."

Ishikawa showed he has learned how to handle himself off the course pretty adeptly as well. When he was asked what he thought of Thai girls - a potentially 'loaded' question, considering he is a teen pin-up in Japan - he thought long and hard before breaking into a big grin and answering: "Cute !".

That pretty much summed up his answer, and the youngster himself.