Golfer Abhijeet hopes to hit form in Avantha Masters

Even though Chandigarh golfer Abhijeet Singh Chadha failed to make the cut in last week’s SAIL SBI Open at Delhi Golf Club,the 22-year-old golfer made full use of the event to spent some valuable time in the company of golfers like Anirban Lahiri and also to seek inputs from him. Anirban,who won the title at the Delhi Golf Club,has been a close friend of Chadha and whenever the two meet at some event,they often spend time practicing together,talking about golf and other worldly things.

One of the discussions must have revolved around the Avantha Masters,starting from Wednesday at Greater Noida. With top golfers from Europe and from other parts of the world expected to pose a tough challenge,Chadha hopes to hit the peak form and set the course for the rest of the reason. “It was unfortunate to miss the cut in the SAIL SBI Open last week. I was playing well but did not hit peak form in the tournament. But I believe these are still early days for me this season. I was away from the game for more than three months and in the meantime,I worked on improving few things regarding my swing. Last month,I played in the Kensville Challenge and later also took part in the Louis Phillipe Cup. Those events gave me enough exposure and helped me get into the rhythm,” shared the Chandigarh golfer. Chadha will be leading the Chandigarh challenge in the Avantha Masters. After that he will play in the Panasonic Open India in April before heading to take part in the PGTI Players’ Championship the same month. Chadha also took part in PGTI Players’ Championship held in Chandigarh last month where he finished 20th. “Both Avantha Masters and Panasonic Open are Asian Tour and European Tour events and a top-ten finish in such an event will boost my confidence a lot. I talked with Anirbhan Lahiri last night and he was thrilled about winning the SAIL SBI Open. It had some of the top ranked Asian golfers and winning such an event is a big thing. I have played at the Jaypee Greens before and the course plays well during this time of the year,” said Chadha.

The Chandigarh golfer claimed his maiden title in the form of the Surya Nepal Masters in March last year and also had eight top-ten finishes in 2012 after making the cut in 17 tournaments last season. To top it,he was named as the PGTI Emerging Player last season. Riding high on confidence,Chadha is hopeful of improving on those performances.

“I have been working on my swing lately and I am slowly coming back into rhythm. It was imperative for me to play in 2-3 tournaments before heading for big events like SAIL Open and Avantha Masters. I just did that in the last few weeks,” shared Chadha,who was also a member of the Indian team that won a bronze medal in the 2010 Asian Games.