April 6th 2010, New Delhi: The Aircel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) has announced the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship 2010, scheduled to be played at the Delhi Golf Club from April 7 - 11, 2010. This event boasts a prize money of Rs. 25 lakh.
Besides Ashok Kumar, the defending champion, this tournament will feature other leading professionals such as Mukesh Kumar, Gaurav Ghei, Shamim Khan, Arjun Singh, Sujjan Singh, Vishal Singh, Rahul Ganapathy and Harendra Gupta, to name a few.
SRF has been involved in the oldest on-going professional event on the Indian circuit. The Bharat Ram family’s patronage of Indian professional golf began 35 years back with a 72 hole strokeplay event, which was previously known as the DCM Championship and then as the SRF Open. The SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship replaced the SRF Open in 2002, and is now one of the highlights of the Indian golf calendar. This event is being staged as part of the PGTI calendar for the fourth time.
Reflecting on SRF’s association with the tournament, Mr. Ashish Bharat Ram, Managing Director, SRF Ltd, said, “As always, it’s a great honour for us to host the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship. Even though some of our top players would be playing overseas, given the depth of talent on the PGTI, we expect stiff competition and very high quality of golf.”
Mr. Sanjiv Talwar, Captain, Delhi Golf Club, said, “We are proud to host the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship 2010. Our association with Dr. Bharat Ram’s family goes back 35 years, when the DCM Open was launched. It was the first professional tournament after the Indian Open.
“The DGC is in great shape and we expect to witness a fascinating contest this week as the top professionals of the country await testing conditions at this magnificent Championship course.”
Mr. Padamjit Sandhu, Director, PGTI, said, “On behalf of PGTI, I would like to thank SRF for their strong commitment and support towards promotion of professional golf in India. We look forward to an exhilarating week of high quality golf as the SRF All India Matchplay Championship promises to bring the thrills and excitement of the matchplay format to the fore.”
The SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship 2010 will have a field of 64 professionals. The tournament follows a knockout format, wherein matches up to the semifinal stage will be played over 18 holes. The final encounter will be decided over 36 holes. The first round, scheduled on Wednesday, April 7 will feature 32 matches. The second round on Thursday, April 8 will witness 16 matches. The pre-quarters and the quarter-finals will be played on Friday, April 9. The semis are slated for Saturday, April 10 while the final will be played on Sunday, April 11. The match for the third and fourth place will also be played on Sunday over 18 holes.
