The Hindu : Sport / Golf : India `A' storms into lead

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Tuesday, Feb 13, 2007
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Sport - Golf

India `A' storms into lead

Sports Reporter

Coimbatore: Home favourite Joseph Chakola and Bangalore's Anirbhan Lahiri, representing India `A', shot into the lead with two-over 146 at the end of round one of the international team event in the 106th Royal Challenge all India amateur golf championship near here on Monday.

Lahiri handled the conditions well to return the day's best score of level-par 72, while Chakola shot 74.

South Africa (Branden Grace and Ruan Botha), Sri Lanka (Mithun Perera and K. Prabagaran) and Bangladesh (Mohammad Shahid and Mohammad Siddikur) played an equally good round to share the second spot at 149, three strokes behind the leader. Jasjeet Singh and Shaurya Singh of India `B' maintained a close distance for the fifth place at 150. If it was not for Shaurya's 74, India `B' would have well found itself lying at the bottom. Tariq Mehmood and Adil Jahangir from Pakistan latched on to the sixth place with 152.

The top ranked amateur and runner-up at the Nick Faldo Asia grand final in Mission Hills, China, Lahiri continued his splendid form to return the lowest score of the day.

Aggressive

The big difference between Lahiri and the rest was that he played aggressively. He struck birdies in the second, ninth, 10th and the 17th holes, which helped turn the tide in India `A's favour. Lahiri had his anxious moments as well. He had bogies on the eighth and 14th and a double bogey on the 12th as he returned to submit a level par card. Meanwhile, Chakola squeezed the best out of the home conditions to birdie the second and eagle the 15th, but bogies on the first, sixth, 10th and a double bogey on the 17th put paid to his progress in carding a better round.

The scores (at the end of first day): 146 India `A' (Anirbhan Lahiri 72, Joseph Chakola 74); 149 South Africa (Branden Grace 74, Ruan Botha 75), Bangladesh (Mohammad Siddikur 73, Mohammad Shahid 76), Sri Lanka (K. Prabagaran 73, Mithun Perera 76); 150 India `B' (Shaurya Singh 74, Jasjeet Singh 76); 152 Pakistan (Adil Jahangir 75, Tariq Mehmood 77).

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