April 1st, New Delhi: Indian team represented by Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa and Noida’s Simarjeet Singh finished as the runner-up at the 5th Nepal Amateur Open Golf Championship held at Gokarna Forest Golf Club, Kathmandu.

Both Madappa and Simarjeet who are ranked 2nd and 6th on the IGU amateur tour respectively, returned with a score of three-over 219 at an event, which was curtailed, to 27 holes due to incessant rain. Thailand’s Ekkarat Leksuwan and Sangchai Kaewcharoen won the event at one-over 217. In all, 51 golfers from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Thailand and Nepal took part in the event.

The three-day individual tournament that was played alongside; reduced to 45-holes saw 17-year-old Madappa finish fourth who came 2nd at Faldo Series in China a week ago. He carded a three-day total of three-over 183. Veteran Simarjeet who has won a number of amateur events in the past, finished eighth at six-over 186. The winner of the individual category was 16-year-old Thai Sangchai Kaewcharoen who shot five-under 175 for a total of 180.

Madappa, who has shot into prominence at the international arena quite recently, says, “Playing in 10 degrees temperature in Kathmandu was a tough challenge as well as a great learning experience. I didn’t expect my score to be very good as it was raining heavily throughout the tournament. Somehow I managed to read the course well on the first day itself, which helped me put up a good score against top players from SAARC nations.”