Chinnappa triumphs

Youngster scores over Syed Ahmed

Trishul Chinnappa enjoyed a relatively straightforward 2&1 win over Syed Saqib Ahmed to clinch the Tata Steel All India Amateur Golf Championships here at the Karnataka Golf Association course on Sunday.

Chinnappa was five up at the end of the front 18 but a resilient Syed fought back and after wins in the eighth and ninth holes on the back 18, he set the match up for an exciting finish.

Chinnappa, who found the drink twice on the back 18, still led Syed by one coming into the last nine holes of the match but you could see that he was facing pressure. Tee shots found the rough rather than the fairway and he took an age to complete some of his putts.

But to the delight of Chinnappa, the free-wheeling Syed again began to err with his shots. After clawing his way back to be just one behind, he undid all his good work with bad approach shots on the home stretch. The sixth seed Chinnappa, who has three amateur titles to his credit, stopped the rot with a superb 35-yard birdie putt on the 12th hole on the back 18 to put some distance between Syed and himself.

Needing to win the penultimate hole to take the match into the 36th hole, Syed could only halve it which meant that Chinnappa took home his first all-India title.

“It’s been an unbelievable week for me,” the 20-year-old Bengalurean gushed. “I’m lost for words to be honest.” Chinnappa was particularly happy with the birdie putt on the 12th hole. “I made an insane birdie putt on the 12th hole of the back 18. I think that was probably what sealed the match in my favour.”  Chinnappa, who revealed that he intends to turn pro in the coming season, also credited his support staff for the win.
DH News Service