<p>Two-time defending champion Anirban Lahiri would be eyeing a hat-trick at the Asian Tour’s season-opening USD 300,000 SAIL-SBI Open which will tee off at the prestigious Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 26-year-old, who beat Thailand’s Prom Meesawat and compatriot Rashid Khan in play-offs in 2012 and 2013 respectively, will have to compete against a stellar field, including former Order of Merit champions Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand.<br /><br />The Indian challenge will be strengthened by the presence of former Asian Tour winners SSP Chowrasia, Digvijay Singh, Rahil Gangjee, Jyoti Randhawa and Himmat Singh Rai.<br /><br />Rashid Khan, the 2013 SAIL-SBI Open runner-up and reigning Rolex Rankings champion on the PGTI Tour, will once again be a force to reckon with on his home course.<br /><br />“I had a good couple of season in the last two years because I had a good start to the season. It is an important factor for success. This is the only year that I have played a lot of golf before SAIL open, so in a way I am match fit,” Lahiri told reporters.<br /><br />“This is my sixth SAIL Open and I have played in DGC. Despite the recent rains and winter, DGC is still in good shape and I have managed to find a strategy here and I would look to do the same this year and I hope to be win the title for the third time,” added Lahiri, who finished third on the Merit list last season. <br /><br />The field also includes Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung, the 2013 Asian Development Tour No 1, Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng, winner of the season-ending King’s Cup Golf Hua Hin in January, countrymen Prom Meesawat, Chawalit Plalphol, Chapchai Nirat and Arnond Vongvanij, Filipino Angelo Que, Korea’s Kim Gi-whan and American Berry Henson.<br /></p>
<p>Two-time defending champion Anirban Lahiri would be eyeing a hat-trick at the Asian Tour’s season-opening USD 300,000 SAIL-SBI Open which will tee off at the prestigious Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The 26-year-old, who beat Thailand’s Prom Meesawat and compatriot Rashid Khan in play-offs in 2012 and 2013 respectively, will have to compete against a stellar field, including former Order of Merit champions Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand.<br /><br />The Indian challenge will be strengthened by the presence of former Asian Tour winners SSP Chowrasia, Digvijay Singh, Rahil Gangjee, Jyoti Randhawa and Himmat Singh Rai.<br /><br />Rashid Khan, the 2013 SAIL-SBI Open runner-up and reigning Rolex Rankings champion on the PGTI Tour, will once again be a force to reckon with on his home course.<br /><br />“I had a good couple of season in the last two years because I had a good start to the season. It is an important factor for success. This is the only year that I have played a lot of golf before SAIL open, so in a way I am match fit,” Lahiri told reporters.<br /><br />“This is my sixth SAIL Open and I have played in DGC. Despite the recent rains and winter, DGC is still in good shape and I have managed to find a strategy here and I would look to do the same this year and I hope to be win the title for the third time,” added Lahiri, who finished third on the Merit list last season. <br /><br />The field also includes Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung, the 2013 Asian Development Tour No 1, Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng, winner of the season-ending King’s Cup Golf Hua Hin in January, countrymen Prom Meesawat, Chawalit Plalphol, Chapchai Nirat and Arnond Vongvanij, Filipino Angelo Que, Korea’s Kim Gi-whan and American Berry Henson.<br /></p>