The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Mani sizzles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 25, 2005

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Sport - Golf

Mani sizzles

Special Correspondent

Chennai: On a day when Chandigarh's Mani Chander shot a hole-in-one on the 17th, compatriot Sonam Chugh produced a par 72 to grab the lead with 148 after two rounds of the Madras Ladies golf championship at the Cosmo-TNGF course here on Wednesday.

Sharing the second spot in the gold division were Sharmila Nicollet, Shradanjali Singh and Vandana Agarwal, all on 149.

Chennai's experienced golfer Lalitha Balasubramanium, with 154 gross and 138 nett, triumphed in the seniors' category.

"It was an amazing feeling," said Mani Chander about her achievement, though it was Sonam who showed better consistency with birdies on the 11th, 12th and 16th holes apart from 12 pars.

It was a rather ordinary day for Sharmila who slumped to a six-over 78 in the second round. She birdied on the sixth and ninth holes, but shot a two-over on the 14th and a three-over on the 16th.

It was Jamshedpur's Shradanjali Singh who came up with a creditable one-over 73 with two birdies 13 pars and three bogies.

Vandana Agarwal of Kolkata carded a two-over 74, which included four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.

Irina improves

Chandigarh's Irina Brar, the highest-ranked golfer in the tournament with a +2 handicap, displayed better form, returning with a two-over 74. She is four strokes behind the leader with two rounds remaining.

Irina, who returned to the country last week after a Short Game stint in the United States, said she had trouble adjusting to the slowness of the greens here. "The courses in Colorado were so quick. Yesterday (Tuesday) was a disaster and today my putting went for a holiday. But there are two more days to go. You never know in golf," Irina said.

Top scores after two rounds:

Gold Division: Open: Gross: 1. Sonam Chugh (Chandigarh) 148, 2. Sharmila Nicollet (Bangalore), Shrandanjali Singh (Jamshedpur) and Vandana Agarwal (Kolkata) 149; Handicap: Nett: 1. Sonam Chugh 136, 2. Lalitha Balasubramanium (Chennai) 138.

Silver: Open: 1. Premalatha Ramraj (Chennai) 173, 2. Ankita Tiwana (Delhi) 175.

Bronze: Open: 1. Rani Chadda (Chennai) 198, 2. Aditi Mehta (Pune) 200.

Juniors: Open: 1. Sonam Chugh 148, 2. Sharmila Nicollet 149.

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