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Thursday, Nov 05, 2009
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Chance for upcoming professionals

Sports Reporter

GREATER NOIDA: The absence of four top golfers of the country will give the upcoming professionals a good opportunity to engage in a competitive battle for the Rs. one crore BILT Open title, starting at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resorts here on Thursday.

Even though the prize money has gone up by Rs. 20 lakh this year, the field arguably has become weaker because of the absence of players like Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Gaganjeet Bhullar and C. Muniyappa. These four are participating in the HSBC World golf championship, also starting on Thursday in Shanghai.

Rising stars like Anirban Lahiri and Himmat Singh Rai have done well this season and look confident of giving veteran golfers Gaurav Ghei, S.S.P. Chowrasia, Mukesh Kumar and Ashok Kumar a run for their money.

Lahiri finished tied-third in the Indian Open, fourth at the Black Mountain Masters, ninth at the Queen’s Cup and joint-ninth at the Iskandar Johor Open.

“It is very good for Indian golf that the next generation is coming through. Many years ago, Jeev and Jyoti did the same thing,” Lahiri said.

Another 22-year-old, Himmat ended tied-third at Iskandar Johor Open, joint-10th at Singha Thailand Open and shared-14th at the Queen’s Cup.

Except the ‘redone’ green on the 14th hole, the Jaypee Greens has not changed much. “There are not many roughs and the greens are playing well. A player scoring a –15 should have a chance of winning the title,” Himmat said.

Meanwhile, the pro-am event on Wednesday was won by Vikrant Chopra’s team, which gathered 115 points. The amateurs who made up Vikrant’s team were Deepak Narang, Anil Mehra and Anil Virmani.

Ashok Kumar’s team, comprising Adil Warsi, V.P. Singh and Manu Garg, bagged the second spot with 114 points.

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