Jamshedpur: Local lad Mohammed Imtiaz sprung a surprise to take the first day’s honours in the Jamshedpur Juniors Cup an event on the Tata Steel IGU East Zone Junior Tour being played at the Beldih Golf Club here on Wednesday. Imitiaz shot 10-over to lead by three shots from tournament favourite Viraj Khanna who carded 13-over in the top category (Cat A & B).

Zahed Khan was third at 87 while Akritdeep Sachdeva was fourth. Vishesh Khanna and Udayajit Bhalotia shared the firth spot. In category C it was Bibek Sardar who called the shots after firing a 77 and was a 5-shot leader over Manish Rajak. Hashan Rahman was third while Raghav Kharb and Arshad Ali were fourth and fifth respectively.

In Category D, it was Sandeep Yadav who was leading with a total of 84 and led by a solitary shot over Rajib Ali. Abhikanks Basu was third while Pratham Choudhary was fourth. In the lowest category, Rakshik Basu was leading over Mohd. Rayyan Habib.

Mohd. Imtiaz who knows the course by the back of his hand and had the distinct advantage of playing on his home course. The 16-year-old began solidly as he opened with back to back pars before losing a shot on the par-4 third. A couple of pars followed with a bogey and a par, he was just about two-over but finished with bogeys before taking the turn. On the back nine, it he made a brilliant birdie on the par-4 12th and also made three pars (11th, 13th, 16th) to return a card of 81.

"I did have the advantage of playing on my home course. However, I played a good game but at the same time I made some silly mistakes,” admitted Imitiaz who is ranked eighth on the IGU Order of Merit. “My iron-play was better than my driving. I don’t think so a 3-shot lead is good enough but I will definitely try and win,” said the leader.

Top Scores (after 18 holes)

Category A & B

Mohd. Imtiaz  (Cat A)  81

Viraj Khanna (Cat A) 84

Zahed Khan  (Cat B) 87

Akritdeep Sachdeva (Cat B) 89

Vishesh Khanna  (Cat A) 90

Udayjit Bhalotia (Cat B) 90

Sharif Khan (Cat B) 91

Kunal Naidu (Cat B) 92

Yashvardhan Sarda (Cat B) 93

Parwez Khan  (Cat A) 94

Category C

Bibek Sardar 77

Manish Rajak 82

Hashan Rahman 84

Raghav Kharb 94

Arshad Ali 97

Category D

Sandeep Yadav 84

Rajib Ali 85

Abhikanks Basu 99

Pratham Choudhary 108

Aroush Tagore 109

Category E

Rakshik Basu 58

Md Rayyan Habib 63

By Indian Sports News Network