The Hindu : Sport : Mehar, Sharmila in final

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Sunday, Feb 03, 2008
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Mehar, Sharmila in final

BANGALORE: Top seed Mehar Atwal and third seed Sharmila Nicollet set up a title clash in the Mawana Sugars Ladies all-India Golf tournament being played at the Eagleton Golf resort here on Saturday. The duo won in contrasting styles in the Gold Division (0-12) in the semifinal with Delhi’s Mehar Atwal being extended by Karishma Thiagaraj to finally scrape a victory on the 20th hole. Bangalore’s Sharmila Nicollet, however, had it easy against Laverry Kumar to win on the 16th hole in the match-play format tournament.

The semifinal between Mehar and Karishma went head to head and on the 16th hole Mehar was one-down with two to go. The 17th was halved and Mehar had to pull out all stops to sink a 30 foot putt on the 18th to take the match beyond the usual 18 holes. With the 19th hole also being halved, the tension was palpable. Mehar made a par on the 20th while Karishma found the tension too much and ended up with a bogey on the hole to give Mehar a berth in the final. To her credit, Karshima fought strongly against the top seed.

Sharmila is not in the best of physical conditions in this tournament. The 15-year-old Bangalorean has a hairline fracture in her right toe and also had a stomach upset on Friday. But Sharmila has a booming drive and with her putting going right, everything was going smoothly. Sharmila only lost two holes with Laverry notching up an eagle on the 4th and a birdie on the 14th to for the winning holes. Sharmila, however, played steadily to log birdies on the ninth and 16th and pars on the rest to seal victory on the 16th.

In the silver division, Mita Govande from Mumbai and Maleena Awn from Sri Lanka took the match up to the 20th hole where Mita finally stamped her win.

In the bronze division nine-year-old Aditi Ashok showed fine composure to chalk up a superb win over Rama Khanna and progress into the final.

The results (All Semifinals): Gold Division (0-12 handicap): Mehar Atwal bt Karishma Thiagaraj (20th Hole), Sharmila Nicollet bt Laverry Kumar 4 & 2.

Silver Division (13-24): Mita Govande bt Maleena Awn (20th hole); Kasavi Malik bt Megha Verma 1 up;

Bronze Division: Asha Doshi bt Aruna Sharma 5 & 4; Aditi Ashok bt Rama Khanna 4 & 3.

KOA’s clarification

The Karnataka Olympic Association has clarified certain points made in a report in The Hindu issue dated Jan. 18 regarding the State Games. KOA’s note said that though DYSS staff had inspected several venues in the State, including Hubli, Dharwad, Raichur and Bellary, they had to opt for Mandya and Mysore to hold the Games as infrastructure in other centres were inadequate.

Regarding the timing of the Games, the KOA said that final examinations for students were only due in March and that they could set aside time for sports in February. It also added that it was feasible to hold the Games only in February, given the crowded schedule of all major sports federations and associations, during the season with 2008 being an Olympic year.

Regarding the non-affiliation of district units, the KOA said that it had been unanimously decided during the last AGM of KOA that when State associations are backed by their respective district units and in turn by taluk units, there was no need for a district Olympic Association. It said that KOA had passed a resolution against starting a district Olympic association. The KOA also said that many district units which were earlier affiliated to KOA, only existed on paper. KOA also reiterated that the revival of the Games was a worthy and positive step.

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