IGU Southern India Junior Boys Golf C'ship: Gill takes one-shot lead over Vihaan on opening day
Coimbatore, May 19
On a windswept day at the Coimbatore Golf Club, Adhiraaj Singh Gill braved testing conditions to seize the lead on the opening day of the IGU Southern India Junior Boys Golf Championship on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old from Jalandhar, a relative greenhorn on the IGU circuit, shot two-over 74 for a one-shot lead over the in-form Vihaan Jain (75). Prince Bainsla, winner of the first event of the season, sat a further shot back in third place, according to a release.
The blustery conditions seemed to play havoc with the yardages and club selection, but Gill, playing his first full season on the IGU circuit, held his own on a tough scoring day.
Gill birdied the sixth and ninth holes on the front nine, as well as the 18th. On the closing hole, he shanked his drive into the trees on the right of the tee box but recovered brilliantly. He hit a stunning 3-wood second shot, followed by a wedge to within 12 feet, and drained the putt.
He dropped shots on the fifth, 12th and 16th holes. He had a double bogey on the par-3 seventh hole, where he went right of the green with a 7-iron tee shot.
Vihaan, meanwhile, got off to a rough start, dropping strokes on four straight holes from the fifth. But before much damage could be done, he found his rhythm and range. He picked up a shot on the ninth by holing a 10-foot putt, and made amends for a dropped stroke on the 11th with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 15th to snap at the leader's heels.
Chaitanya Pandey and Shan Alvi were in the lead in Category 'B' (13-14) and Category 'C' (11-12) respectively.
Leading scores (after 18 holes): Category 'A' (15-17 years): 74: Adhiraaj Singh Gill (Punjab); 75: Vihaan Jain (Delhi); 76: Prince Bainsla (Haryana); 77: Vivaan Ubhayakar (Karnataka), Siidhaan Chhibber (Haryana), Nilofer Sivamoorthy (Tamil Nadu).
Category 'B' (13-14): 79: Chaitanya Pandey (Delhi); 81: Saatvic Kumar Singh (Telangana); 82: Siddhant Sharma (Haryana); 83: Vivaan Pinnapureddy (Telangana), Jaibir Singh Kang (Haryana).
Category 'C' (11-12): 82: Shan Alvi (Delhi); 83: Drona Singh Dhull (Haryana); 86: Jot Sarup Gupta (Punjab); 87: Vivaan Singh (Karnataka), Aviraj Singh Aulakh (Maharashtra), Vivaan Vijai (Karnataka).
— ANI
Reader Comments
Great to see young talent from Punjab and Delhi competing. Vihaan's comeback after that rough patch shows mental strength. Makes me proud to see our juniors playing at this level.
Impressive display of resilience, especially in windy conditions. Love how Gill didn't let that double bogey on the 7th affect his game. This could be his breakthrough tournament.
Nice to see Tamil Nadu golfers in the mix - Nilofer Sivamoorthy at 77 is a good start. Hope more local talent emerges from Coimbatore. Chak de!
Golf in India is growing so fast. The standard at junior level is really impressive. Would love to see these kids break onto the global stage like Anirban Lahiri did. Best of luck to all f
inalists!
The recovery on the 18th hole is the kind of shot that makes champions. Gill has that never-give-up attitude. Jaise bhi ho, golf toh khelna hai! 😄
Love seeing so many young golfers from different states - Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. This is what Indian sports needs: regional talent getting recognized. Ma
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