Victorious European Ryder Cup skipper Colin Montgomerie will return to captaincy when the Royal Trophy begins in Thailand on Friday.
Montgomerie will also play for Europe against an Asia team led by Joe Ozaki in the fifth running of the event.
The Scot led Europe to a one-point Royal Trophy victory last year, the team’s third win in four attempts.
Henrik Stenson, Peter Hanson, Pablo Martin, Rhys Davies, Johan Edfors and Matteo Manassero will play for Europe.
Between them, the team boast 50 European Tour titles.
The Asia side have won the Trophy just once, in 2009, but have grown stronger since the inaugural tournament in 2006.
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“When you look at the Asian team and the strength they have on board, you can see Asia is booming in the world of golf,” said Montgomerie, who won the BBC Sports Personality Coach of the Year last month after masterminding Europe’s Ryder Cup victory in October.
“We’ll be hard pushed, we have to give 100 %, we’ll give everything and we look forward to defending our ground.
“That mix of youth an experience was what we had at Ryder Cup and Europe are on a roll now.
“Europe has never been in a healthier state in golf. We want to preserve that record and with we have a very good team.”
Last year’s event was a close-run affair, with Stenson sinking his putt at the last to halve his match with Thongchai Jaidee which gave Europe a 8½-7½ victory.
Ozaki sticks by Jaidee, who makes his fifth appearance, India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, China’s Liang Wenchong and Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa.
He also includes four new names in a line-up of 2010 title-winners, including Noh Seung-yul, the talented 19-year old South Korean who won the Asian Tour order of merit in only his third year on the circuit.
“I’m happy with my team and happy Monty fears our players,” said Ozaki, a winner of 32 Japanese Tour titles. “I think this is the strongest ever and we’re ready to put up another good fight.”
The event will take place at the Black Mountain Golf Club in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin.
Friday foursomes draw:
Liang Wenchong (China)/Noh Seung-yul (Korea) v Henrik Stenson/Johan Edfors (Sweden)
Yuta Ikeda (Japan)/Kim Kyung-tae (Korea) v Colin Montgomerie (Scotland)/Rhys Davies (Wales)
Ryo Ishikawa/Shunsuke Sonoda (Japan) v Matteo Manassero (Italy)/Pablo Martin (Spain)
Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand)/Jeev Milkha Singh (India) v Peter Hanson/Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden)
