Kolkata: The battle for honours in the Tollygunge Juniors promises an interesting finish if the start is anything to go by. Tournament favourite Sunit Chowrasia and Raj Ali both fired an identical 5-over 75 to share the opening round honours in the eighth and penultimate leg of the Tata Steel IGU East Zone Junior/Sub-Junior Tour being played at the Tollygunge Club here on Tuesday.
Vishesh Khanna was third with a total of 78 while Nishkarsh Sachdeva was tied for the fourth place along with Viraj Khanna at 79. Sumant Lenka was sixth at 81 while Parwez Khan was seventh at 84. Raj Ali by virtue of his 75, was also the leader in Category B with Nishkarsh Sachdeva following him in second position at 79. Amit Kumar Shaw was tied for the third place at 85 along with Rohan Agarwal while Yashwardhan Sarda was fifth after a round of 86. Kunal Naidu and Udayajit Bhalotia were in the sixth and seventh position respectively.
Hashan Rahman emerged the leader in Category C with a neat 73 while Bibek Sardar was second at 80. Devansh Chadha was third with Rohil Chokhany in the fourth position. Sandeep Yadav led in Category D with Rajib Ali in second position and Abhikanks Basu was third. Kaushal Bagrodia topped the Category E while Pranshu Poddar was second. Chitrangada Singh was the lone girl and led in her category while also competing in Category D.
A surprise awaits the junior kids when India’s most graceful southpaw and former cricket captain Sourav Ganguly will honour the winners at the prize presentation to be held on the morrow. This would not only be an encouragement to the budding golfers but will also give the Prince of Kolkata an opportunity to learn the nuances of the game which has now been adopted by many of the past and current cricketers alike.
On the battle field, it was Sunit Chowrasia was more aggressive. While he was rewarded for some of his shots, he got penalized for bad shots as well. In the process, Sunit made three birdies on the par-4 ninth, the par-5 10th and the par-4 15th while making eight pars. A double on the 16th cost him the sole lead. “The victory last week has given me confidence and hence I thought of attacking. I am not going to change my game plan for the final round,” said Sunit.
Raj Ali meanwhile fired a solitary birdie on the par-4 17th while being conservative in his approach. But for a double on the par-4 third, Raj could also have emerged as the sole leader. “I will try for a victory for sure and see how best I can tackle the course,” said the joint-leader.
Top scores after 18 holes
Category A & B
Raj Ali (Cat B) 75; Sunit Chowrasia (Cat A) 75; Vishesh Khanna (Cat A) 78; Nishkarsh Sachdeva (Cat B) 79; Viraj Khanna (Cat A) 79; Sumant Lenka (Cat A) 81; Parwez Khan (Cat A) 84; Amit Kumar Shaw (Cat B) 85; Rohan Agarwal (Cat B) 85; Yashvardhan Sarda (Cat B) 86; Kunal Naidu (Cat B) 89; Udayjit Bhalotia (Cat B) 89
Category B
Raj Ali 75; Nishkarsh Sachdeva 79; Amit Kumar Shaw 85; Rohan Agarwal 85; Yashvardhan Sarda 86; Kunal Naidu 89; Udayjit Bhalotia 89; Bishwam Ghosh 91
Category C
Hashan Rahman 73; Bibek Sardar 80; Devansh Chadha 86; Rohil Chokhany 88; Kshitij Sehgal 89; Manish Rajak 89; Sreenjoy Majumdar 93
Category D
Sandeep Yadav 83; Rajib Ali 89; Abhikanks Basu 90; Divij Sehgal 92; Aroush Tagore 100
Category E (9 holes)
Kaushal Bagrodia 48; Pranshu Poddar 55; Anshul Wahee 60; Aryaman Chakravarty 63; Arav Shanghavi 65
Girls (D Category) (18 holes)
Chitrangada Singh 99
By Indian Sports News Network
