Ashbeer completes double with consecutive win

In a bizarre turn of events at the Lalit Suri Northern India Junior Golf Championship,Kapurthala's Ashbeer Singh Saini returned a card of eight-over 80 and still emerged on top to clinch his second consecutive title on the Lalit Suri Junior Tour.

In a bizarre turn of events at the Lalit Suri Northern India Junior Golf Championship,Kapurthala’s Ashbeer Singh Saini returned a card of eight-over 80 and still emerged on top to clinch his second consecutive title on the Lalit Suri Junior Tour. The 15-year-old,with a total of 10-over 298,won by six shots as his nearest contender,Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa,failed to grab the opportunity.

Chikka,unable to capitalise on the chance presented to him by Ashbeer,finished with nine-over 81. One shot behind him was Khalin Joshi,with a total of 17-over 305. Rommel Mazumdar,who finished 14th,turned a few heads with an albatross on the par-5 eighth. Ankur Chadha was a comfortable winner in Category B,finishing five ahead of Tarundeep Chadha. Delhi’s Piyush Sangwan,made a mark in his new age category,winning the U-12 title by finishing six shots clear of Jairaj Sandhu,the overnight leader. Karandeep Kochar completed a double with a facile win in the junior most category.

In the girls’ section,Laverry Kumar finished off the competition with a round of even-par 72 to win the title. Shreya Ghei finished five behind her with a total of 14-over 230.

Ashbeer got off the blocks with a double bogey but Chikka restored parity with a double bogey of his own on the next hole. Ashbeer’s struggles did not cease,as the youngster was four-over after four holes. With Chikka not showing any hint of a charge,Ashbeer went about the task of bringing normalcy back to the proceedings by making birdies on the fifth,eighth and 10th. At one-over for the day,he was nine shots ahead of Chikka with just eight holes to play.

His lead thinned down dramatically over two holes,with a quadruple bogey on the 12th followed by a double bogey on the next hole. “I hit it out of bounds twice and by the time I found the fairway I had already lost four shots on the hole,” said Ashbeer. Just when it looked like two bad holes might have led to a revival of competition,the Bangalore lad was found wanting and never managed to claw back to pose a challenge.

Chikka later said,”I was just hitting terribly,not making putts and was just not getting anything right. It wasn’t as if the course was difficult.” Explaining further,he said,”It is the kind of thing that happens once or twice a year and you just swallow the medicine and move on.” Ashbeer,however,knew he had a narrow escape. “As delighted as I am with the win,I know that if he had played anywhere close to what he is capable of,he could have easily finished in front of me.”

The two young guns will face off against each other in Delhi during the next tournament of the Lalit Suri Junior Golf Tour at the Delhi Golf Club.

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Leaderboard :
Category A and B: 298: Ashbeer Saini (73,71,74,80);304:Chikkarangappa (75,73,75,81); 305: Khalin Joshi (74,76,75,80); Category A :298: Ashbeer Saini (73,71,74,80); 304: Chikkarangappa (75,73,75,81); 305: Khalin Joshi (74,76,75,80) :Category B :311: Ankur Chadha (80,75,78,78); 316: Tarundeep S Chadha (80,78,76,82); 318: Kushal Singh (79,77,85,77) :Category C 330: Piyush Sangwan (85,82,84,79); 336: Jairaj S.; Sandhu (89,77,79,91);338:VirajMadhappa (83,84,81,90):Category D :257: Karandeep S Kochar (84,87,86); 260: Arjun Prasad (88,86,86); 268: Siddarth K (89,92,87); Girls :Category A :225: Laverry Kumar (75,78,72); 230: Sherya Ghei (77,78,75); 235: Gauri Monga (81,83,71).

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