<p>While he could not stop a marauding Thailand (855) from retaining the team championship for the Janya Cup by a whopping 11 strokes, the 17-year-old Bangalorean produced another sizzling show on an unusually balmy day to lay his hands on the crystal Amalia Montecillo trophy at the Eagleton Golf Resort.<br /><br />“This is what I was looking forward,” said an ecstatic Chikka (272) after carding a final-round four-under 68 to win the individual crown on his fourth attempt by six strokes.<br />“I have been criticised for failing to perform at the international level; to have achieved this at my home course is phenomenal. This is the best tournament I have played ever in,” he added.<br /><br />Focus on local lad<br /><br />While it was almost a given that Thailand would win the team title after they had opened a 13-stroke lead after round three, the entire focus was on Chikka. Watched keenly by his modest parents and a strong crowd, he hardly put a foot wrong in registering his second double-digit under-par score for a tournament.<br /><br />Determined and razor sharp in focus, Chikka’s final-round performance was nothing but a culmination of his show throughout the week. <br /><br />His five birdies for the day took his tournament tally to 19, while he had just one bogey in the final round and three in total over four days.<br /><br />After taking the turn at three-under, including an eight-foot birdie on the eighth, Chikka made his only blunder when he bogeyed the 10th. <br /><br />While he still led by six strokes, the question of pressure cropped up but Chikka easily sunk two birdies before being sprayed with cola by non-playing captain Rashid Khan at the 18th, sparking off huge celebrations.<br /><br />Chikka and team-mates Ashbeer Saini, Honey Biasoya and Manu Gandas finished runners-up in the team event after totalling 866.<br />Tame performances from Biasoya and Gandas were among the main reasons for India’s failure to capture the team championship.<br /><br />Leading scores (India unless mentioned): Team championship: 855: Thailand (Nattawat Suvajanakorn, Pariwat Pinsawat, Poom Saksansin, Rattanon Wannasrichan); 866: India (Ashbeer Saini, S Chikkarangappa, Honey Biasoya, Manu Gandas); 875: Chinese Taipei (Chieh-Po Lee, Han-Ting Chiu, Sung-I Yu, Wei-Hou Liu).<br /><br />Individual championship: Category A&B: 272: Chikkarangappa (66, 68, 70, 68); 278: Teng Kao (Chn Tpe, 69, 64, 75, 70); 279: Poom Saksansin (Tha, 68, 68, 71, 72); 286: Jobim Antonio Carlos (Phi, 71, 76, 69, 70), Khalin Joshi (73, 72, 69, 72); 287: Ashbeer Saini (73, 68, 72, 74); 288: Wei-Hou Liu (Chn Tpe, 70, 72, 71, 75); 289: Nattawat Suvajanakorn (Tha, 75, 74, 70, 70); 291: Mohd Azman Basharudin (Mal, 71, 73, 71, 76).<br />Category B: 289: Nattawat Suvajanakorn; 292: Sung-I Yu (Chn Tpe, 74, 72, 76, 70); 294: Pariwat Pinsawat (Tha, 77, 72, 68, 77); 304: Angelo Jose Gandionco (Phi, 79, 76, 73, 76); 305: Marc Ong (Sin, 78, 74, 77, 76); 310: Shubhankar Sharma (77, 77, 76, 80); 311: Honey Biasoya (81, 76, 79, 75).</p>
<p>While he could not stop a marauding Thailand (855) from retaining the team championship for the Janya Cup by a whopping 11 strokes, the 17-year-old Bangalorean produced another sizzling show on an unusually balmy day to lay his hands on the crystal Amalia Montecillo trophy at the Eagleton Golf Resort.<br /><br />“This is what I was looking forward,” said an ecstatic Chikka (272) after carding a final-round four-under 68 to win the individual crown on his fourth attempt by six strokes.<br />“I have been criticised for failing to perform at the international level; to have achieved this at my home course is phenomenal. This is the best tournament I have played ever in,” he added.<br /><br />Focus on local lad<br /><br />While it was almost a given that Thailand would win the team title after they had opened a 13-stroke lead after round three, the entire focus was on Chikka. Watched keenly by his modest parents and a strong crowd, he hardly put a foot wrong in registering his second double-digit under-par score for a tournament.<br /><br />Determined and razor sharp in focus, Chikka’s final-round performance was nothing but a culmination of his show throughout the week. <br /><br />His five birdies for the day took his tournament tally to 19, while he had just one bogey in the final round and three in total over four days.<br /><br />After taking the turn at three-under, including an eight-foot birdie on the eighth, Chikka made his only blunder when he bogeyed the 10th. <br /><br />While he still led by six strokes, the question of pressure cropped up but Chikka easily sunk two birdies before being sprayed with cola by non-playing captain Rashid Khan at the 18th, sparking off huge celebrations.<br /><br />Chikka and team-mates Ashbeer Saini, Honey Biasoya and Manu Gandas finished runners-up in the team event after totalling 866.<br />Tame performances from Biasoya and Gandas were among the main reasons for India’s failure to capture the team championship.<br /><br />Leading scores (India unless mentioned): Team championship: 855: Thailand (Nattawat Suvajanakorn, Pariwat Pinsawat, Poom Saksansin, Rattanon Wannasrichan); 866: India (Ashbeer Saini, S Chikkarangappa, Honey Biasoya, Manu Gandas); 875: Chinese Taipei (Chieh-Po Lee, Han-Ting Chiu, Sung-I Yu, Wei-Hou Liu).<br /><br />Individual championship: Category A&B: 272: Chikkarangappa (66, 68, 70, 68); 278: Teng Kao (Chn Tpe, 69, 64, 75, 70); 279: Poom Saksansin (Tha, 68, 68, 71, 72); 286: Jobim Antonio Carlos (Phi, 71, 76, 69, 70), Khalin Joshi (73, 72, 69, 72); 287: Ashbeer Saini (73, 68, 72, 74); 288: Wei-Hou Liu (Chn Tpe, 70, 72, 71, 75); 289: Nattawat Suvajanakorn (Tha, 75, 74, 70, 70); 291: Mohd Azman Basharudin (Mal, 71, 73, 71, 76).<br />Category B: 289: Nattawat Suvajanakorn; 292: Sung-I Yu (Chn Tpe, 74, 72, 76, 70); 294: Pariwat Pinsawat (Tha, 77, 72, 68, 77); 304: Angelo Jose Gandionco (Phi, 79, 76, 73, 76); 305: Marc Ong (Sin, 78, 74, 77, 76); 310: Shubhankar Sharma (77, 77, 76, 80); 311: Honey Biasoya (81, 76, 79, 75).</p>
