The Hindu : Sport / Golf : All set for matchplay championship

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004

Sport

Sport - Golf

All set for matchplay championship

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 13. A tennis-like draw-sheet for golf tournament certainly raises a different kind of tempo. More so, since in matchplay, everyone makes money unlike in the preferred strokeplay format.

In the past, several big names have perished in the first round but that has not stopped the sponsors from carrying on with the SRF all-India matchplay championship, which enters its third year since shifting its format from the traditional strokeplay.

On Wednesday, all the 64 ranked players will tee off in a group of two and at the end of the day only half of them will stay afloat for the next day at the Delhi Golf Club course here.

In this context, the most intriguing match should be between Shiv Prakash and Indrajit Bhalotia; the two have three matchplay titles between them. As luck would have it, the rankings were such that Bhalotia and Shiv Prakash were pitted against each other.

Bhalotia had won the 1998 championship to pocket the biggest ever pay-cheque (Rs. Five lakhs) in matchplay. Shiv Prakash followed Bhalotia by winning the same event next year and then followed it up with a victory in the first SRF Matchplay championship in 2002.

Defending champion and number two seed, Vijay Kumar, has a relatively easy first round opponent in Satbir Dhama, while top-seeded Ashok Kumar takes on D.K. Verma. A win for Ashok will further cement his placing on the Order of Merit while for Vijay the title would help displace the top seed.

Either way, there will be a change in the Order of Merit, as all will make money regardless of where they finish.

"This week is very important for me," said Vijay. "The field is strong but I am a far better player than I was last year, especially after my stint on the Asian PGA Tour," he added.

Among the other leading participants, four times Order of Merit winner and the fourth seed Mukesh Kumar will meet Minky Barbora, while third-seeded Delhi Golf Club pro Arjun Singh takes on Hem Chand.

The seedings: 1. Ashok Kumar, 2. Vijay Kumar, 3. Arjun Singh, 4. Mukesh Kumar, 5. S.S.P. Chowrasia, 6. Digvijay Singh, 7. Yusuf Ali, 8. Uttam Singh Mundy, 9. Rafiq Ali, 10. Feroz Ali, 11. Gaurav Ghei, 12. Pappan, 13. Rahul Ganapathy, 14. Sanjay Kumar, 15. Amandeep Johl, 16. C. Muniyappa.

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