Bengaluru: Veteran H. S. Kang caused the biggest ripple at the Tata Steel 114th Amateur Golf Championship of India when he sent the country’s top amateur Udayan Mane home in a thrilling match, which lasted 23 holes at the Karnataka Golf Association here on Thursday.
With both players locked all square after the regulation 18 holes, Kang made a birdie on the Par 5, fifth play-off hole to seal a spot in the pre-quarter finals. In a minor upset, 31st seeded local lad Rahul Ravi beat Samarth Dwivedi 1 Up. Another home boy Syed Saqib Ahmed took out the defending champion PratapAtwal 2&1 to ensure the National Championship will get a new winner this year.
The top seedVirajMadappa hardly broke a sweat when he won the battle of the juniors against Delhi’s Md. Wasil 5&4. With three birdies on the front nine, he took the turn at a comfortable 4 Up. With Wasil making a double bogey on the Par 5 11th hole, Viraj went 5 Up and squared the next three holes to wrap up the match on the 14th hole itself.
Kang matched Mane stroke for stroke from the start when he took the lead in the match on the second hole. He doubled his lead with a birdie on the 4th hole but Mane got the match back to all square by the 7th hole. In a see-saw match, the veteran took the turn 1 Up after winning the 9th hole and Mane would birdie the Par 4 12th hole to get back on level terms. Both traded blows on the final four holes of the course as the lead exchanged hands and eventual play-off followed. Both hit regulation pars on the first four holes before Kang’s birdie settled the issue.
“What a brilliant result for me today. “ exclaimed the veteran. He added, “The idea was to not let Mane run away with the match early on and I was glad to be able to take it deep and emerge victorious.”
In other notable results, TrishulChinnappa won against GunvirRana on the 19th with a birdie, Aman Raj made short work of young Kartik Sharma 6&5 while Pukhraj Singh Gill beat city mate and India international Feroz Singh Garewal with a par on the 19th hole. Fifth seed Yashas Chandra lost to Gujarat southpaw Anshul Patel 2&1 in a very close match.
Top Results - Round of 32 (seedingspreced the name):
1-Viraj Madappa beat 32-Md. Wasil 5&4
31-Rahul Ravi beat 2-Samarth Dwivedi 1 UP
3-Harimohan Singh beat 30-Kurush Heerjee 3&1
4-Kushal Singh beat 29-Aalaap I. L. 2&1
28-Anshul Patel beat 5-Yashas Chandra 2&1
6-Trishul Chinnappa beat 27-Gunvir Rana 19th
26-Vikram Rana beat 7-Devin Suri 3&2
8-Aman Raj beat 25-Kartik Sharma 6&5
9-Syed Saqib Ahmed beat 24-Pratap Atwal 2&1