Arjun Atwal’s qualification for the USPGA Tour this year was seen as a historic milestone in Indian golf. It was a feat which was expected to inspire the country’s young golfers to aim for the Big League. With his next door neighbour in Kolkata Rahil Gangjee winning the Asian Tour title in China today, it all seems to be going by the script. ‘‘Arjun showed the way and I started believing in myself,’’ Rahil told The Indian Express on phone hours after pocketing the winner’s cheque of $48,000 and climbing to the 13th spot on the Asian Order of Merit. The 25-year-old golfer says that the one thing that inspired him was the belief that, ‘‘if Arjun could do it, so could I’’. With this being his fourth event on the Asian Tour, the win means Rahil has tasted success early. ‘‘I always dreamt of holding a trophy but this was quite early,’’ confesses Rahil. ‘‘I’ve just not stopped smiling. The feeling is yet to sink in.’’ Rahil’s coach Ajay Gupta too talks about Atwal’s influence on his ward. ‘‘Atwal was one player who drove Rahil and living in the same neighbourhood really helped,’’ he said. Having won himself an ‘APGA card,’ his first international event in Burma saw him finish 19th, the next in Phillipines saw him miss the cut and subsequently his Indian Open quest too ended in similar fashion. Despite these setbacks Gupta always felt Rahil had it him to excel at international level. ‘‘I have always said that Rahil and Ashok Kumar were India’s best bets after Atwal, Jyoti and Jeev,’’ he explains. Having turned pro in 2001-02, after a successful run on the amateur circuit Rahil, who pocked his first pro cheque in Lucknow and ended up as PGAI’s Rookie of the Year. The next year he drew a blank before he finally decided to move on to a bigger pool of tournaments and subsequently follow Atwal’s footsteps.
