SCORESHEET
ROUND 1
April 8th 2010, New Delhi: Mohd. Islam of Patna hogged the limelight in the second round of the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship as he derailed fourth seed Vijay Kumar’s campaign with a 1 Up victory. Meanwhile, top contenders such as Gaurav Ghei, Ashok Kumar and Shamim Khan kept their title hopes alive by advancing to the pre-quarter finals.
Mohd. Islam won six holes against Vijay Kumar’s five on Thursday. Islam was two ahead till the 12th hole but Lucknow-based Vijay Kumar pulled it back to all square by winning the 14th and 17th holes. Vijay chipped-in from the bunker for birdie on the 17th. Islam finally won with a birdie on the par five 18th where he hit the green in two shots.
Islam said, “I performed well in all facets of the game today. We were engaged in a very tough contest as fortunes kept fluctuating throughout the match. But I managed to hold my nerve at the end in order to come through. It feels great to have beaten Vijay Kumar who was one of the top contenders. This win gives me loads of confidence going forward.”
Mohd. Islam during Round 2 |
In a clash involving two of the leading professionals from Chandigarh, fifth seed Harendra Gupta ended 2010 Rolex Ranking leader Sujjan Singh’s challenge with a 2 & 1 result.
Gupta will now take on Vinod Kumar of the Delhi Golf Club, whose 5 & 4 win against Kanpur’s Shiv Prakash turned out to be the biggest margin of victory in round two.
Some of the top names such as Gaurav Ghei, Ashok Kumar and Shamim Khan went through to the round of 16 with comfortable wins.
While Gaurav Ghei eased past Vikrant Chopra 4 & 3, Ashok Kumar defeated Ranjit Singh Rathore 3 & 2. Shamim Khan beat Toran Bikram Shahi 2 & 1.
In the closest match of the day, Randhir Singh Ghotra of Chandigarh triumphed over Lucknow’s Sanjay Kumar on the 22nd hole.
In an important match, R Srinivas of Bangalore prevailed over Shaurya Singh, the giant-killer from round one, on the 19th hole. Shaurya had beaten top-seed Mukesh Kumar in round one.
In some other key encounters, Navtez Singh of Jamshedpur overcame Manav Jaini of the DGC with a 3 & 1 margin, while Rafick Ali Mollah of Kolkata defeated Amritinder Singh 4 & 3.
The pre-quarters and the quarter finals will be played on Friday, April 9.
