By IANS
Kolkata : Sri Lankan Mithun Perera rallied from being two holes down after the first 18 to beat Gagan Verma in the 36-hole final Goodricke Eastern India amateur golf.
Perera, son of Nandasena Perera, the most famous golfer from Sri Lanka, won 4 & 3 to take the 11th leg of the LG Indian Amateur Golf Tour.
Gagan, who was 2-up after the first 18, not only lost his tempo but the match and title to Perera who was brilliant on the greens.
Gagan began by winning the first hole with a birdie only to lose the third hole. He again wrested the initiative to win the fourth, seventh and 10th to go 3-up with Mithun reducing the margin on the 11th. The duo shared a hole each on the 14th and 16th respectively as Gagan went into the break with a 2-up lead.
When the play resumed, Mithun began the repair-task by making a birdie on the 19th hole to cut the lead to one. After matching stroke by stroke on the next three holes, the 24-year-old from Royal Colombo Golf Club won four holes in a row to go 3-up.
Gagan pulled one back on the 27th , winning it with a birdie. Trying to go all out, the Delhi lad dropped bogeys on the 28th and 29th holes to Mithun’s pars to give a 4-up advantage to the Lankan. Mithun lost the very next hole but a wayward tee shot on the 33 rd hole (course’s 15th) from Gagan handed the victory to Mithun as he finished with a par to Gagan’s bogey.
“I am thrilled to win the prestigious event. I was a bit shaken after the first 18 but I said to myself that I am not going down without a fight. My only intention was to make par and waited for Gagan to make a mistake,” said Mithun after the round. “I have been playing on the LG Indian Amateur Golf Tour and I find it very competitive. I have improved my golf tremendously,” he added.
Final result (36-hole): 11-Mithun Perera bt 12-Gagan Verma 4 & 3