JOIN USSri Lankan pro Mithun Perera lifted the spirits in the Navratna Ahmedabad camp with a solid, improved display to finish with a score of eight-under 62 in round two, which helped his team advance to the semifinals of the Louis Philippe Cup at par-70 BPGC in Chembur on Thursday.
The 27-year-old’s blistering performance equalled the course record set by Rahil Gangjee of AVT Kolkata on the opening day of the event on Wednesday.
Perera’s splendid display boosted Ahmedabad, who were placed fifth after the first round, to the top of the leaderboard with a two-round nett score of 15-under 265 (133, 132).
The other two members of the team, Vikrant Chopra (72, 70) and Vinod Kumar (65, 70) both had par rounds.
Overnight leaders AVT Kolkata, represented by Gangjee, Shankar Das and Chiragh Kumar, finished with an identical total of 265 (129, 136), but were placed second on a count back. Gangjee, who had scorched the course with a 62, could only manage a par score of 70, today while Chiragh and Das, both finished with identical scores of 68 each.
Puravankara Bangalore, composed of Anirban Lahiri (65, 67), M Dharma (66, 70) and S Chikkarangappa (66, 68), were third with a combined score of 14-under 266. In the semifinals on Friday, Ahmedabad would take on Colombo, while Bangalore would clash with Kolkata.
Team standings (second round, top-four only): 265: Navratna Ahmedabad (133, 132) (Mithun Perera 68, 62, Vikrant Chopra 72, 70, Vinod Kumar 65, 70), AVT Kolkata (129, 136) (Rahil Gangjee 62, 70, Chiragh Kumar 75, 68, Shankar Das 67, 68); 266: Puravankara Bangalore (131, 135) (Anirban Lahiri 65, 67, M Dharma 66, 70, S Chikkarangappa 66, 68); 269: Krrish Colombo (131, 138) (Himmat Rai 65, 69, K Prabagaran 66, 69, N Thangaraja 72. 70).