By IANS
New Delhi : Young Shaurya Singh shocked fourth seed Harmeet Kahlon 1 up to score the first big upset in the first round of the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship.
Most of the top contenders – Ashok Kumar, Digvijay Singh, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Lam Chih Bing – advanced to the second round. Eight matches in round one were decided through extra holes.
Defending champion and top seed Ashok Kumar came back from being 3 down against Kolkata’s Ranjit Singh to finally win 1 up. Ranjit won the first, third and fifth holes but Ashok bounced back by winning the eighth, 13th, 15th and 16th holes.
“It was a close match and Ranjit gave me a fight till the end. I’m delighted with my win as I did not start well but then picked up momentum on the back nine,” said an elated Ashok after his victory.
The big upset of the day was Shaurya Singh’s win against Kahlon.
Shaurya won the first, third, fifth, sixth, eighth and 11th holes but lost out to Harmeet on the ninth, 10th, 12th, 15th and 17th. He finally registered a well-deserved win when Harmeet missed a four feet putt on the 18th that could have taken the match to a playoff.
“It was a great day for me. I was hitting well and also putted well on the front nine. Harmeet seemed to be catching up with me on the back nine but I hung in there and finally came through. I was also playing with an injured left shoulder so the win is that much more special for me,” said Shaurya.
Second seed Digvijay Singh secured a berth in the round of 32 with a 2 up triumph against Jaideep Patwardhan. Third seed Gaganjeet Bhullar also made it to the next round as he won 3 & 2 against Gast Ram.
Fifth seed Lam Chih Bing of Singapore prevailed over Dinesh Kumar 4 & 3. Lam Chih Bing bagged the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, 12th and 14th holes and lost the fourth and 13th.
Rahul Ganapathy cruised to a 4 & 3 victory over Bhoop Singh. Ganapathy advanced as a result of wins on the third, ninth, 12th and 15th. Mukesh Kumar secured a birth in the second round after he defeated M Dharma 6 & 5.
Sixth seed C Muniyappa and seventh seed Shamim Khan also booked their places in the second round. While C. Muniyappa won 4 & 3 against Sheeraz Kalra, Shamim Khan defeated Sachin Nigade 2 & 1.
In a close encounter Bangalore’s R. Srinivas defeated Sanjay Kumar on the second playoff hole (20th hole). In other playoffs Uttam Singh Mundy beat Deepinder Singh Khullar (19th hole), Vivek Bhandari beat Rohit Chaudhary (19th hole), Himmat Singh Rai beat Mohd Islam (20th hole), Gurbaaz Mann beat Indrajit Bhalotia (19th hole) and Ali Sher beat Gurki Shergill (19th hole).
Thirty-two professionals will be involved in 16 matches in the second round on Wednesday.
Results (Round 1):
Ashok Kumar bt Ranjit Singh (Kolkata) (1 up); Vinod Kumar bt Amritinder Singh (1 up); Amardip Sinh Malik bt Mohd Salim (1 up); R Srinivas bt Sanjay Kumar (20th hole); Vijay Kumar bt Mandeo Singh Pathania (6 & 5); Randhir Singh Ghotra bt Nabin Mandal (3 & 1); Arjun Singh bt Rajiv N Datar (4 & 3); Himmat Singh Rai bt Mohd Islam (20th hole); Shaurya Singh bt Harmeet Kahlon (1 up); Manav Jaini bt Vikrant Chopra (20th hole); Uttam Singh Mundy bt Deepinder Singh Kullar (19th hole); A S Lehal bt Raju Ali Mollah (4 & 3); Lam Chih Bing bt Dinesh Kumar (4 & 3); Shankar Das bt Sujjan Singh (3 & 2); Mukesh Kumar bt M Dharma (6 & 5); Anura Rohana bt Kunal Bhasin (6 & 4); Digvijay Singh bt Jaideep Patwardhan (2 up); B G Lalith Kumara bt Rafick Ali Mollah (2 & 1); Naman Dawar bt Arjun Singh Chaudhri (3 & 2); Jaiveer Virk bt Karanjit Singh Sandhu (3 & 2); Shamim Khan bt Sachin Nigade (2 & 1); Shiv Prakash bt Pappan (19th hole); Vivek Bhandari bt Rohit Chaudhary (19th hole); Chiragh Kumar bt Yusuf Ali (5 & 3); Gaganjeet Bhullar bt Gast Ram (3 & 2); Sandeep Syal bt Gaurav Diwan (2 up); Harendra Gupta bt Richard Backwell (2 & 1); Roop Singh bt Ranjit Singh (1 up); C Muniyappa bt Sheeraz Kalra (4 & 3); Gurbaaz Mann bt Indrajit Bhalotia (19th hole); Rahul Ganapathy bt Bhoop Singh (4 & 3); Ali Sher bt Gurki Shergill (19th hole).
Key matches Wednesday:
8.30 a.m.: Ashok Kumar v Vinod Kumar; 9.26 a.m.: Digvijay Singh v B G Lalith Kumara; 9.54 a.m.: Gaganjeet Bhullar v Sandeep Syal; 10.08 a.m.: C Muniyappa v Gurbaaz Mann; 10.15 a.m.: Rahul Ganapathy v Ali Sher.