DPS boys book final berth
Fresh from his maiden international win last week, Chandigarh’s Shubhankar Sharma, lived up to the tag of pre- tournament favourite at the McLeod Russel Tour Championship with a scorching opening round of sixunder66 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on Thursday.
Bengaluru’s Rahil Gangjee, playing at his former home course, and Rashid Khan of Delhi also got off to impressive starts with five- under- 67s to share second place at the PGTI’s season- ending event worth ` 1.5 crore. Sharma, 21, who won the Joburg Open 10 days ago to become the youngest Indian to win on the European Tour, continued his hot form with a topclass 66. Accurate hitting ensured he kept landing it close to the pin on the front nine where he had five birdies and a bogey.
Sharma sank his longest putt of the day, a 30- footer, for birdie on the 10th and followed that up with another birdie on the 11th to move to six- under. He then made pars all the way till the end. He signed off with a brilliant chip- putt to save par on the 18th.
Said Sharma, “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the week. I’ve been striking it well and of course the confidence is high after two good weeks in Asia. I feel with my current state of mind, even if I hit a few bad shots, I’m confident enough to still shoot a low number.”
Gangjee, now a Bengaluru resident, fired a bogey- free 67 to make a grand start to the week in his original home of Kolkata. Gangjee, who retained his Asian Tour card by a narrow margin after finishing 60th in the Order of Merit last week, sank two 25- footers for birdies on Thursday along with a 20footer for par on the 13th.
Rashid, the joint course record holder at RCGC courtesy his 63 at the 2014 event, mixed six birdies with a bogey for his 67. “I’ve not won a professional event at RCGC but always shot one really good round here. The key was to enjoy the round rather than put pressure on myself to do well. That’s what I changed in my game this year after struggling in 2016,” said Rashid, the reigning PGTI Order of Merit champion.
Among the overseas players in the field, Japan’s Yuwa Kosaihira and Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja were the highestplaced in tied fourth at 69 along with Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya and Patna’s Aman Raj.
Local favourite S. S. P. Chawrasia had a 71 to be tied 12th while Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu was a further shot back in tied 20th. An all- round display by Delhi under- 19 player Vaibhav Kandpal ( 54, 3/ 15) and incisive bowling by left- arm spinner Rahul Ajit Chaudhary ( 3/ 12) helped Delhi Public School, Mathur Road, beat Jamia School by 72 runs in the semi- final of the Daredevils inter- school cricket tournament at the Abhi Sports C o m p l e x grounds in the capital on Friday.
Batting first, DPS posted 129/ 9 in 20 overs as man of the match K a n d p a l added bulk of runs. Sameer Khan ( 2/ 20) and Sabaz Khan impressed with the Jamia School.
In reply, Jamia School were no match to DPS as they folded up for a mere 57 in 18 overs. Kandpal, Chaudhary and Karan Pandey ( 2/ 4) shared the spoils for DPS while Shaan Ahamed scored 16 not out. ( 2/ 27) ball for