Arjun knocks out top seed Ashok

The putter hanging loose in his hand, Ashok Kumar took his cap off and stood at the bunker8217;s edge.

The putter hanging loose in his hand, Ashok Kumar took his cap off and stood at the bunker8217;s edge. The distance between another hole and the handshake was just about three feet, and the top seed seemed to have made up his mind on what was the likelier option.

Arjun Singh took one measured look at his putt, and the ball dropped in quietly as the applause started.

It was mass-pruning day at the SRF All-India Matchplay today, what with the both the pre-quarters and quarter-finals, and the defending champion could only make past the first hurdle. Seeded ninth, Singh had got through a sudden death play-off with Vijay Kumar in the morning before that struggle with Ashok turned deathly.

Conceding foot-long putts is the sporting practice of matchplay golf. But in the minds of Ashok and Singh today, not an inch was let off.

The upmanship had started at the very first step. Singh was just about six feet away for birdie and a certain early lead as Ashok8217;s ball lay some 30 feet away. Or so it seemed. The swagger in place, Ashok gave it one firm push and the ball rolled and rolled and dropped right in for un unbelievable birdie, the raised arms almost demading applause. Singh was awestruck too, seemingly, and his putt never looked like going in. The balance, however, was settled right away. Ashok was on the edge of the bunker and the chip left some work. Singh ensured he didn8217;t need to do any, however, sinking his birdie putt and striking off the deficit.

Singh teed off into the jungle on the next, and that put him back again, Ashok missed his putt on the fourth and it was all square. Then Ashok won the fifth and Singh the seventh. A terrific second shot on the par-five eighth gave Singh one-up for the first time, and for a string of halved holes stuck to the lead. But it was bound to happen; Ashok evened it with a two-putt on the 11th as Singh missed his.

They were sharing all the spoils. Ashok won the 12th, but gave it away right away; he went up on the 14th, but it was even again on the 16th. In the end one hole was going to decide, and it came down to the 18th. Singh plays Lam Chih Bing tomorrow, who took no trouble in ridding himself of Manav Jaini8217;s challenge. The Singaporean won 6 038; 5. Ali Sher8217;s fairytale continues. He beat Harendra Guta on the 18th to fix up a semi-final match with Shamim Khan. Shamim was too good for Naman Dawar, who had upset second seed Digvijay Singh in the morning today.

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Semi-final line-up: 9-Arjun Singh vs 5-Lam Chih Bing 7 Shamim Khan vs 22-Ali Sher