Karan ready to wait before pro jump

Taking his time is what he seems to be doing at the macro level too. Vasudeva won the junior all-India tournament in 2000 as a 12-year-old,and at 14,represented India at the Asia-pacific juniors and at the junior Asian Masters. Then right away,moving into the 15-18 years age category,he won his first junior title. He was living up to the dream that his golf-enthusiast father and grandfather had for him.

Once into the amateur circuit,however,the titles suddenly dried up. Then this June,four years into playing on the circuit,Vasudeva came closest to getting that winning feeling back. Having led after the second round at the LG Southern India Open in Bangalore,the Delhi boy lost out by one stroke to an inspired Arshdeep Tiwana. “That was disappointing,” Vasudeva says. “I have been playing well this season. My new coach,Nonita Lall Qureshi,and I have been working on my swing which has been a bit of a problem for a while.”

The week after that runner-up finish,he was fourth at the LG Tamil Nadu Open in Coimbatore,and climbed up to the fourth place on the Order of Merit,the best he’s ever been. Following up on that,though,was a bigger achievement as Vasudeva made through eight rounds of qualifiers to find himself a place on the India team for the Nomura Cup,finally giving him another chance to put on India colours.

The progress might have been slow,but it’s steady and Vasudeva now wants to determine whether he’s ready for the next leap. “I’m really excited about the Nomura Cup. I will see how I do there,and then further on in the season,to see how soon I can turn professional.”