Defending champion India beat the rain and its opponents to retain the SAARC Golf Championship Trophy that concluded here on Saturday. But Bangladesh proved to be no pushover, running the host close and even snatching one of the three ties in the match-play finals. The final 2-1 score line hardly reflected the closeness of the tie. “It is very disappointing. We wanted to win in India very badly. I played well against India’s best amateur. But it was just bad luck that I lost,” said Akbar Hossain, Bangladesh’s highest ranked amateur, summing up his match against Viraj Madappa.
The latter stroked the ball well and played a bogey-free round, and was 1-up over Hossain coming into the 18th hole. Hossain needed to win the hole to push the tight match into a play off, but his second shot was caught by a gust of wind and drifted left.
His pitch shot fell just short of the green and he two-putted for a bogey.
