By IANS,
Bangkok : Two of the country’s most promising amateur juniors, Rashid Khan and Rahul Bakshi will give company to seven Indian professionals at the Volvo Masters of Asia starting Thursday.
The two Indian teenagers finished first and second at the last Faldo Series Asia championships. That finish gave Rashid and Bakshi a chance to join a star-studded line-up of Asian Tour golfers at the Thai Country Club in Bangkok.
The 17-year-old Khan from Delhi won the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at Mission Hills Golf Club, China, courtesy the Asian Tour who endorse Nick Faldo’s golf development programme in Asia. Khan’s compatriot, 18-year-old Bakshi from Chandigarh claimed the boys’ under-18 title at the international Faldo Series Grand Final in Brazil in October.
The seven Indian professionals in the season-ending tournament are led by Money List leader, Jeev Milkha Singh. Others are S.S.P. Chowrasia, Jyoti Randhawa, Gaurav Ghei, Digvijay Singh, Shiv Kapur and Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Six-time Major winner Nick Faldo said: “The Faldo Series aims to help develop tomorrow’s champions and this opportunity presented by the Asian Tour will be a great learning curve for two of our leading players.”
“These kinds of opportunities are invaluable for talented young golfers like Rashid and Rahul. Their participation in the Volvo Masters of Asia is exactly the kind of experience that will help them gain a better understanding of life in the professional ranks.”
Supported by UBS, Mission Hills and The R&A since its launch in 2006, the current Faldo Series Asia schedule features 12 events in nine different countries across the region, including four in mainland China plus one in each of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Faldo will host the third Faldo Series Asia Grand Final on the Faldo Course at Mission Hills on March 25-27, 2009.