Jaguars roar back into contention at T9 golf
Hyderabad, June 8: Jaagruthi Jaguars roared to a 3-0 win over Boulder Ninjas in the fifth round to climb to joint second place and raise hopes of remarkable comeback after a couple of early losses in the ATUM T9 Golf Challenge at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club on Wednesday.
Viswanath Mallichetti was once again the star as he won his fifth successive game by 1 hole up with none to play. He clearly displayed his value to the Jaguars as his dogged play inspired the rest of the team to contribute to the points tally. Mohan Rao Thandra won a comfortable 4 holes up with 2 to play while the pair of Vikas Raj & Dr U. Rajesh completed the whitewash with a 2 holes up with none to play win.
The second match of the day saw favourites Boulder Hills Tigers being stretched to the limit by the ATUM Chargers with the former coming out on top only on the final hole of the match. Sridhar Reddy continued his form by partnering former India spinner S. L. Venkatapathi Raju to register a 3 holes up with 1 to play win. The two singles games went to
the wire as Parthasaradhi clocked up the point for ATUM Chargers and Tigers’ Shashidhar Reddy only managing to pip a spirited Kavitha Mantha on the last hole. Both games finished 1 hole up with none to play.
In another match, the BHGCC Raiders caused a huge upset by beating fancied Novotel Stars in a come-from-behind victory. After Madhusudhana Rao & CH Mohan Rao had given Novotel Stars the early point with a comfortable 3 holes up with 2 to play, it all came down to the singles games. Carlos Saporiti held off the late charge of Stars’ captain C. V. Ramana Reddy with a 1 hole up with none to play win. Raiders’ captain Andy Woods caused a dramatic turnaround after trailing 1 hole down with 2 to play and won the final two holes to push his team into the top four on the number of wins.
The Tigers are on top of the table with 10.5 points and are virtually assured of a semifinal berth with one match to play. Jaagruthi Jaguars and T Eagles are joint second with 9 points each while BHGCC Raiders are fourth with 6 points.
THE RESULTS
Jaagruthi Jaguars bt Boulder Ninjas 3-0, Boulder Hills Tigers bt ATUM Chargers 2-1, BHGCC Raiders bt Novotel Stars 2-1.