Jamshedpur: Gurkirat Singh may be playing in a lower category but he played some brilliant golf to outshine his senior counterparts to emerge as the overall champion in the Boys Junior Category (A & B) in the first leg of the Tata Steel IGU East Zone Sub Junior Tour which culminated at the Beldih Golf Club here on Wednesday.
Gurkirat submitted a card of 4-over 76 for a two-round total of 156 to nose ahead of overnight leader Sunit Chowrasia who settled for a bridesmaid finish at 157.
Sunit had the distinction of finishing on top in Category A while Viraj Khanna finished second on a countback over Mohammed Imtiaz. Gurkirat also annexed the Category B honours with Udayjit Bhalotia and Yashwardhan Sarda finishing second and third respectively. Devansh Chadha was crowned the champion in Category C with Hashan Rahman finishing second. Sandeep Yadav emerged the winner in Category D while Rajib Ali was the runner-up. Kaushal Bagrodia won the Category E honours which was played over 18 holes.
Gurkirat who belongs to the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in Kolkata, began in style making a birdie on the opening hole only to lose advantage on the very next hole. However, playing to 1-under in his last four holes on the front nine, he took the turn at 1-over. The back nine was a roller coaster ride for Gurkirat who made pars on the even and bogeys on the odd-numbered holes until he found his rhythm in the last three holes which he ended up with pars to win his maiden title on the IGU circuit.
“I am thrilled to win the tournament,” said the 14-year-old Gurkirat. ‘I was attacking the pins and although I paid the penalty on some holes, the strategy did pay some rich dividends,” said champion who dedicated his victory to his mother for supporting him in all his ventures.
Category A
157 Sunit Chowrasia (79, 78); 161 Viraj Khanna (80, 81); 161 Md. Imtiaz (81, 80); 173 Sumant Lenka (91, 82); 174 Parwez Khan (86, 88); 195 Karan Bhuwalaka (96, 99)
Category B
156 Gurkirat Singh (80, 76); 172 Udayjit Bhalotia (88,84); 181 Yashvardhan Sarda (94, 87); 182 Zahed Khan (96, 86); 186 Kunal Naidu (99, 87)
Category C
167 Devansh Chadha (80, 87); 168 Hashan Rahman (82, 86); 172 Bibek Sardar (87, 85)
Category D
162 Sandeep Yadav (80, 82); 199 Rajib Ali (102, 97); 199 Abhikanks Basu (97, 102)
Category E
98 Kaushal Bagrodia (51, 47); 110 Md Rayyan Habib (56, 54); 121 Rakshik Basu (57, 64).
