Chikkarangappa stops Thangaraja; runs into Haridas
Gauri, Shreya in women’s title clash
Defending champion S Chikkarangappa survived a near coup from Sri Lanka’s N Thangaraja to move within one win of coming up trumps in the 110th all-India amateur golf championship.
Battling a letdown in form and a brilliant Thangaraja, the 17-year-old looked down and out before scripting a remarkable late recovery to sneak into the finals with a 1-up victory at the Karnataka Golf Association on Saturday.
In Sunday’s title round to be contested over 36 holes, Chikkarangappa, who last year became the youngest winner of the coveted amateur crown, will lock horns with Pritam Haridas. Haridas, the 20-year-old KGA lad still searching for a maiden title, beat club-mate and regular practice partner Udayan Mane 3&2.
Throughout the week, Chikkarangappa has blown hot and cold but has somehow managed his way through, banking more on his opponent’s errors than his own brilliance. To his dismay, he quickly found that Thangaraja wasn’t going to fritter away the advantage easily.
The 28-year-old caddie-turned-golfer from Colombo, who took up the sport seriously just three years back, was impressive again, going 2-up within the first four holes.
Except for the eighth and 10th, the Lankan hardly faltered with his driving, finding fairways with ease while his short game -- especially three long putts to halve the holes -- was equally fantastic.
Chikkarangappa, however, kept his calm for the most part despite finding it difficult to keep his game together. Hard as he tried, the tee shots just kept taking the ball towards the left, and his frustration hit a peak when he almost went out-of-bounds on the 10th.
Two-down then, Chikkarangappa had a narrow escape when Thangaraja’s par putt lipped out as both players made a bogey.
The teenager sunk an under-pressure 14-footer for birdie on the 12th to cut the lead to a hole before sinking another long putt to win the 14th and make it all square.
Caught unawares, Thangaraja allowed pressure to get the better of him when he bogeyed the 17th to hand Chikkarangappa the lead for the first time. The all-India junior champion then laid the icing on the cake on a fine come-from-behind win, two-putting from 40 feet on the 18th to book his place in the final.
Gauri halts Aditi
Gauri Monga halted Aditi’s Ashok impressive run, scoring a 2-up win in the 94th Ladies amateur championship at the Bangalore Golf Club.
The Delhi Golf Club teenager will face defending champion Shreya Ghei, who beat Gurbani Singh 2&1, in the 36-hole final on Sunday.
Results (semifinals): Men: Pritam Haridas bt Udayan Mane 3&2; S Chikkarangappa bt N Thangaraja 1-up.
Ladies: Gauri Monga bt Aditi Ashok 2-up; Shreya Ghei bt Gurbani Singh 2&1.
