MUMBAI, January 20: Excitement seems very much on the cards from the first round of the Crompton Greaves Matchplay Golf Championship which gets underway at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Club course from tomorrow. The Rs 22-lakh event is one of the four `majors' of the Professional Golfers Association of India (PGAI) tour.With most of the seeds drawing tough competitors, an upset or two seems imminent. Top-seed and defending champion Gaurav Ghei has drawn an easy match in citymate Hem Chand but things surely won't be comfortable for the former. Ghei, the only Indian to have ever qualified for the British Open, failed to live upto his expectations at the just-concluded BPGC Open. Ghei confirmed his participation today ending speculations arising due to a suspected viral fever which he contracted during the Open.Another man to watch will be Kanpur's Shiv Prakash. The 39-year-old Shiv is on a dream run after finishing runner-up at the BPGC Open. At a Pro-Am tournament today, Shiv equalled the course record with a seven under-par. ``I am having a very good time. Expect the best from me,'' he warned. Shiv faces Mumbai's Dinesh Raghuvanshi who is quickly gaining reputation as a giant killer.Another tough challenger to Ghei will be Mhow's Mukesh Kumar. ``There is something about this course. I find it very comfortable,'' was what Mukesh had to say after winning the BPGC Open for the second successive year. Facing him will be veteran fro Chandigarh Simran Singh, who last year had knocked out Chiranjeev Mikha Singh in the first round. ``I just managed to pip Jeev (Milkha) on the 18th hole. Don't expect the fireworks everytime,'' joked the 64-year-old Simran, probably the oldest golfer in the fray.Last year's runner-up, Delhi's Feroz Ali was sceptical about his chances after injuring his ring finger yesterday. ``It all depends on how my finger shapes up tomorrow. But I am quite positive,'' he said.Among the other players to watch are Arjun Singh, runner-up alongwith Shiv Prakash at the BPGC Open,Vivek Bhandari, winner of the Honda-Siel PGA Open, Vijay Kumar, Jyoti Randhawa and Amandeep Johl.The CG Matchplay is the only knock-out tournament to be played in the country. The winner here takes home a whopping Rs 5,00,000, the maximum at any event in India.
