New Delhi, April 2, 2009: The semi-final line-up at the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship is complete as Sri Lankan Anura Rohana, Delhi golfers Ashok Kumar and Vivek Bhandari and Mysore’s Rahul Ganapathy made it to the last four after winning their respective quarter final matches on Thursday afternoon at the Delhi Golf Club.

Top-seed Mukesh Kumar crashed out of the tournament after losing his quarter final encounter against Anura Rohana. Rohana, who beat Mukesh 2 Up, has now emerged as a strong contender for the title. The Sri Lankan has so far been the giant-killer of the tournament as he had earlier beaten defending champion Arjun Singh in round two and followed that up with a 1 Up victory over Asian Tour regular Gaurav Ghei in the pre-quarter final stage on Thursday morning.

In his quarter final match, Anura won the first and fourth holes before Mukesh pulled one back on the ninth. Anura then sank a birdie to win the closing 18th and wrap up the match.

Rohana said, “I was very consistent with my putting and did not feel any pressure. I made two putts on all holes. Mukesh missed a number of putts today, especially on the front nine. I feel I am on a roll at the moment, having beaten very strong opponents in my last three matches.”

“My three-iron and five-wood shots were also pretty good today. If I continue to putt the way I did today, I feel, I’ll be very tough to beat,” added the 35-year-old from Colombo.

Vivek Bhandari caused the other upset of the day when he defeated second seed and last year’s runner-up Shamim Khan 2 & 1. This clash between the two DGC professionals began with Bhandari taking the early lead as he sank an eagle to win the first hole and then made par to win the fourth. Shamim came back strongly, winning the seventh, eighth and 10th to snatch the lead.

But Bhandari, who excelled with the putter through the day, thereafter pocketed the 14th, 16th and 17th holes to end Shamim’s campaign.

“I felt the match swung my way when I won the 14th with a birdie to make it all square. I had a good bunker shot on the 14th that left me a three feet putt for birdie. When Shamim took the lead on the 10th, I knew I had to hang in there and keep the ball in play as no lead is enough at the DGC,” said Bhandari.

He added, “My putting was outstanding today. I holed a couple of 20-footers, one for eagle on the first and the other to halve the third. I sank my winning putt on the 17th from 15 feet. My improved short game has made a big difference to my performance. I had been struggling with my short game for quite some time and that explains why my last top-5 finish on the PGTI came two seasons back.”

Rahul Ganapathy, the third seed, earned the right to take on Vivek Bhandari in the semi-finals after he outplayed Vijay Kumar 5 & 3. Ganapathy, who was three up after five holes, was in control from the very outset and did not lose momentum at any stage. He closed out the match on the 15th.

Ashok Kumar will play Anura Rohana in the other semi-final. Ashok, the 2007 SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship winner beat Vikrant Chopra 2 Up. Ashok, was four ahead at the turn but Chopra fought back with wins on the 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th. Ashok then sealed the affair with wins on the 16th and 18th.

Ashok said, “I have never hit it better with the irons. Every round I am hitting it extremely close to the pin on at least five to six holes. My putting is also getting better with every round.”

Earlier in the day, Mukesh Kumar had knocked out Pappan 4 & 3 in the pre-quarter finals while Ashok Kumar trounced Shankar Das with a mammoth 8 & 7 margin.

Vikrant Chopra produced an astonishing come-from-behind victory against Naman Dawar in the round of 16. Chopra trailed Dawar by three holes after 12 but then won the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 18th to win 2 Up.

In the other pre-quarter final matches played during the first half of the day, Shamim Khan prevailed over Ranjit Singh (2 & 1), Vivek Bhandari defeated Gurbaaz Mann (4 & 2), Rahul Ganapathy beat Raju Ali Mollah (2 & 1) and Vijay Kumar ended Kunal Bhasin’s challenge (3 & 2).

Semi-final line-up for April 3, 2009: 8:30 am: Anura Rohana v Ashok Kumar; 8:37 am: Vivek Bhandari v Rahul Ganapathy