Kuala Lumpur: Elevenyears of waiting ended for Sweden'sPeter Hedblom when he claimed a thrilling one-stroke victory at the MaybankMalaysian Open on Sunday (Feb 11,2007).

The Swede prevailed in the heat of battle at Saujana Golf and Country Club,shooting a final round four-under-par 68 for an eight-under-par total of 280,edging out Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin, who signed off with the day's bestscore of 67.

Spaniard Ignacio Garrido and England'sSimon Dyson shared third place, a further stroke behind in the 1.29 milliondollar championship co-sanctioned by the Asian and European tours.

Asia's best performers were Thai duo PromMeesawat and teenager Chinarat Phadungsil, signing off with rounds of 73 and 70respectively for a share of seventh place on 284.

Hedblom, whose lone victory on the European Tour was at the 1996 MoroccanOpen, overcame an overnight three-shot deficit with a clinical display of golfthat yielded six birdies against two dropped shots.

But he needed to survive a shaky finish at the last hole, which he bogeyedby three-putting before sealing a long-awaited second victory.

"Unbelievable," said Hedblom, who won 215,000 dollars. "I'vebeen shaking. It's almost 11 years now and to win again, I've worked so hard toget back and try to win a tournament and now I've won it. It's unbelievable.

"When you haven't won for that long, you question whether you can winagain."

The battle for the Maybank Malaysian Open crown was a touch-and-go affair.At one stage, five players were tied for the lead on yet another steamy day atSaujana's Palm course, with seven other players within two shots of thepacesetters.

Hedblom pulled clear of the pack with birdies on the 13th, 16th and 17thholes but caught a tricky lie with his second shot on the 18th, which ended onthe edge of a bunker. But the Swede recovered with an exquisite chip onto thegreen and took three putts to hole out, making Lucquin pay for his costly three-puttbogey on the same hole.

Marcus Higley of Englandand Argentinean Ricardo Gonzalez were overnight co-leaders. Higley closed witha 74 to finish equal fifth on 283 while Gonzalez slipped to 11th place after adisappointing 76. Northern Ireland'sDarren Clarke shot a second straight 71 to finish tied 27th, while Ryder Cupteammate Lee Westwood of Englandcarded a 74 for 42nd place.