The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Bindra shuts out Rafick Ali

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006

Sport

Sport - Golf

Bindra shuts out Rafick Ali

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: Teaching pro Monish Bindra scored one of the biggest win of his career when he beat the sixth seeded Rafick Ali in the first round of the Rs. 10 lakh SRF all-India matchplay golf championship at the Delhi Golf Club course here on Tuesday.

Both the players shared the first 10 holes before Ali went one up on the 11th. Bindra shot back immediately but Ali again took the lead. Bindra was again down by a hole when he teed on the par-3 17th hole, before he made his decisive move. He won that hole and then birdied the 18th hole to win the match against Ali.

"I decided to treat the final hole as a strokeplay par-5 birdie hole," said Bindra who made a superb recovery from a fairway bunker to birdie.

The other top seeded players had comfortable wins on the first day. Amby Valley PGAI Order of Merit leader Mukesh Kumar literally toyed with Rohtas Singh and won 5 and 4. Mukesh went on a birdie spree early on to leave Rohtas gasping.

"I think that I won the match in the first four holes as Rohtas gave up the match after my four straight birdies," said Mukesh.

Digvijay Singh, the winner of last week's DDA Open championship, also won but not without some resistance. Young Mandeo Pathania gave a good contest to the seasoned Digvijay before losing 4 and 2.

"Mandeo (Pathania) was fantastic. I was fascinated by his style of play and selection of clubs," said Digvijay about his opponent.

Important results (first round): Mukesh Kumar bt Rohtas Singh 5 and 4, Harinder Gupta bt Roop Singh 2 up, Binod Pandey bt Dinesh Kumar 1 up, Feroz Ali bt C. Kumar 2 up, C. Muniyappa bt P. S. Guleria 2 and 1, Digvijay Singh bt Mandeo Pathania 4 and 2, Basad Ali bt Jaiveer Virk 6 and 5, Yusuf Ali bt R. Srinivas 4 and 3, S. S. P. Chowrasia bt Mohammed Maqbool 3 and 2, Shiv Prakash bt Indrajit Bhalotia 2 and 1, S. Madaiah 2 up, Vijay Kumar bt Sunil Kumar 6 and 5, Jumman bt Amit Bose 20th hole, Sanjay Kumar bt Vikrant Chopra 20th hole, Ranjit Singh bt G. S. Sethi 6 and 5, Ali Sher bt Bhoop Singh 5 and 4, Ashok Kumar bt Jaideep Patwardhan 4 and 3, Uttam Singh Mundy bt Sheeraz Kalra 7 and 5, Monish Bindra bt Rafick Ali 1 up, Vivek Bhandari bt Gast Ram 1 up, Arjun Singh bt A. S. Lehal 5 and 3.

Schools table tennis

The fifth Hans Raj Model School table tennis tournament will be held at the school premises in Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, from April 29 to May 2. Entries close on April 24 with Hukam Singh, 6/2543, Beadonpura, Karol Bagh, or with S.S. Kapur at the venue.

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