Kolkata: Aditi Ashok shot an almost error-free round of 3-under 69 to catapult to the top of the leader board in the Girls A & B category at the end of the penultimate round of the Asia Pacific Junior Golf Championship being played at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club here on Saturday. The Bangalore-based lass was level par 144 after two rounds.

Aditi’s effort also put India ‘B’ ahead in the team standings as the hosts totaled 294 and were four strokes ahead of second-placed Thailand ‘A’ team of Pinyada Kuvanun and Natnicha Chomchoei. Aditi was partnered by Ridhima Dilawari. The Chinese Taipei ‘B’ team of Hsin-En Tsai and Cih-Hui Chen were lying third at 300.
 

There was more cheer for the hosts as Feroz Singh Garewal brought in the day’s best card amongst the boys when he submitted a card of 2-under par 70 to jump to the third position even as overnight leader Suradit Yongcharoenchai led the field at level-par 216, three strokes ahead of the second placed Viraj Madappa. Another Indian Manu Gandas was tied for the fourth place along with Chinese Taipei’s Sung I Yu.

The India ‘A’ team of Manu Gandas and Viraj Madappa increased their lead to five shots when they aggregated a three-round total of 442 with the Thailand ‘B’ team duo of Ekthumrong Luanganuruk and Suradit Yongcharoenchai lying second. The Chinese Taipei ‘A’ team comprising of Sung I Yu and Chun An Yu were third a further two shots behind Thailand.

Aditi who plays at the Bangalore Golf Club began playing golf when she was barely six and played her first competitive golf as soon as she celebrated her seventh birthday. Having represented India at many international events, Aditi exhibited her experience and talent as she went about the task effortlessly. Opening with a birdie, she made two more birdies on the fifth and ninth to take the turn at 3-under. A bogey on the 11th set her back a bit but she nullified it with a birdie on the 15th. She flirted with birdies on a couple of holes but more than that she was happy to walk away without committing any mistakes.

With the players bunched together, the fight for the title is expected to get intense in the final round.

BOYS (A&B) 54 holes

216 Suradit Yongcharoenchai (THA) (74, 70, 72); 219 Viraj Madappa (IND) (73, 73, 73); 222 Feroz Singh Garewal (IND) (75, 77, 70); 223 Sung I Yu (CHN TPI) (69, 79, 75), Manu Gandas (IND) (73, 75, 75); 226 Chun An Yu (CHN TPI) (76, 74, 76); 231 Ekthumrong Luanganuruk (THA) (78, 79, 74); 232 Leon Philip D'souza (HK) (81, 76, 75), Karandeep Kochhar (IND) (75, 81, 76), Natchapon Eaksen (THA) (78, 78, 76); 233 Thanakorn Torsee (THA) (75, 82, 76); 235 Afnan Mahmud Chowdhury (B’DESH) (83, 77, 75).

GIRLS (A&B) 36 holes

144 Aditi Ashok (IND) (75, 69); 145 Natnicha Chomchoei (THA), (74, 71); Gurbani Singh (IND) (73, 72), Min-Jou Chen (CHN TPI) (72, 73); 146 Cih-Hui Chen (CHN TPI) (76, 70); 150 Ridhima Dilawari (IND) (72, 78); 152 Yu-Hsin Chang (CHN TPI) (78, 74); 153 Pinyada Kuvanun (THA) (79, 74), Kai Wing Li (HK) (75, 78); 154 Hsin-En Tsai (CHN TPI) (77, 77); 156 Onkanok Soisuwan (THA) (83, 73), Ying Tung Queenie Lai (KH) (79, 77)

‘C’ Category 36 holes

152 Kshitij Naved Kaul (IND) (76, 76); 153 Sunhit Bishnoi (IND) (78, 75); 154 Saarthak Chhibber (IND) (79, 75); 161 Atiruj Winaicharonechai (THA) (83, 78); 166 Chun Hin Mun (HK) (82, 84); 168 Devansh Chadha (IND) (91, 77)

Team Standings

BOYS

442 India ‘A’ (Viraj Madappa, Manu Gandas); 447 Thailand ‘B’ (Ekthumrong Luanganuruk, Suradit Yongcharoenchai); 449 Chinese Taipei ‘A’ (Sung I Yu, Chun An Yu)

GIRLS

294 India ‘B’ (Aditi Ashok, Ridhima Dilawari); 297 Chinese Taipei ‘A’ (Yu-Hsin Chang, Min-Jou Chen); 298 Thailand ‘A’ (Pinyada Kuvanun, Natnicha Chomchoei).