By IANS
Chandigarh : The baby-face looks of Kanishk Madan might fetch him a soft corner from his opponents. But they soon realize that the `baby’ is too tough to handle as the 17-year-old continued his giant killing spree ousting the second seed Shahid of Bangladesh to advance to the third round of the 107th LG All India Amateur Open at the Chandigarh Golf Club here Thursday.
Kanishk who is seeded 15th, won with a convincing margin of 4 and 3 to set up a pre-quarterfinal clash with 15th seed Mithun Perera who quelled the challenge of Malaysian Edmund Jonathan by a similar margin.
In the other biggest upset of the day, Malaysian Mohammed Arie, seeded 32nd, showed Jamal Mollah of Bangaldesh the door with a 3 and 2 victory to enter the pre-quarters. He will clash with 16th seed Chi-Hsien Hsieh of Taipei who was a 1-up winner over Malaysian Haziz Hamizan. In a minor upset, 39th ranked Gangan Verma quelled the challenge of seventh seed Abhijit Chadha 3 and 2 while Manav Das stopped the Jaipur lad Aditya Singh 6 and 5.
Kanishk who has been flirting with victories in the Junior circuit and leaving a mark occasionally on the Amateur circuit has been in good form this week. With some good approach shots, the Delhi lad made two successive birdies on the first two holes to take a 2-0 lead as his opponent made bogey and par respectively. Shahid made a par on the next to reduce the margin.
Kanishk whose main aim was to make pars stuck to his plan and occasionally making a birdie which gave him a distinct advantage over his fancied opponent whose putter went cold along with the weather.
Making a birdie on the seventh, Kanishk went 4-up. Each of them won a hole each on the next two holes but with a birdie on the 12th, he took a decisive 5-up lead. Shahid once again reduced the margin on the 14th hole with a birdie and could have won the next hole after having made a par on the par-4 15th. But Kanishk who was on the edge of the green chipped-in to save par and end the match on the 15 th hole itself.
“I was playing it safe as my driving wasn’t that good. I was happy with my iron-play and my putting which won me the match,” said Kanishk after the game. “I am going to take as it comes and play each hole at a time,” Kanishk added.