JOIN US Viraj Madappa and Jaibir Singh produced fine performances as India expectedly topped the strokeplay format to claim the top seeding in the 12th SAARC Nations Golf Championship at the KGA here on Thursday.
Both Madappa and Jaibir shot identical scores of level-par 72 as the hosts totaled 144 with Bangladesh taking the second seeding after amassing 151. Akbar Hossain (74) and M Rasel (77) were the key performers for Bangladesh.
Bhutan was a distant third at 171 while Afghanistan could only manage 203 with all of their players going over 100.
In the 36-hole semifinals on Friday, India will take on Bhutan in what should be a stroll in the park while Bangladesh locks horn with Afghanistan.
Madappa endured a fluctuating round, finding it hard to get a grip of the conditions. He birdied the fifth and ninth before dropping a shot on the 10th. That bogey just after the momentum seemed to affect his concentration as he double-bogeyed the 12th. He recovered to pick up a birdie on the 14th but a dropped shot on the 16th left him at level-par.
Results: 144: India (Jaibir Singh 72, Viraj Madappa 72); 151: Bangladesh (Akbar Hossain 74, M Rasel 77); 171: Bhutan (Tshendra Dorji 82, Karma Wangchuk 89); 203: Afghanistan (Noor Ahmed Fazel 101, M Afzal Abdul 102).