Jamshedpur: Sunit Chowrasia, almost replicated his namesake and more popular course mate SSP Chowrasia when he carded a round of 2-over 73 to take a three-shot lead in the opening round of the second leg of the Tata Steel IGU East Zone Sub-Junior Tour being played at the Golmuri Golf Club here on Friday.

In a surprising form of display, Hashan Rahman who is playing in Category C shot a 5-over 76 to not only top his group but was second overall. Parwez Khan was third at 77 while Mohd. Imtiaz was fourth at 80.

The man in form Gurkirat Singh had a dismal round of 12-over 83 but still led in Category B with Kunal Naidu trailing him by five strokes. Devesh Chadha was second in Category C with a total of 82 while Bibek Sardar was third at 83. Rajib Ali emerged as the leader in Category D with a total of 81.

Sunit who has always admired SSP Chowrasia and wants to follow in his footsteps, began on an ominous note making a bogey on the opening hole. However, he made amends on third hole when he made a birdie and parred every other hole to take the turn at even par. Continuing in the same fashion, the 16-year-old made four pars and was having a dream round until he hit a stumbling block when he made a hat-trick of bogeys beginning from the 14th. A par-birdie finish ensured that Sunit walked in as the leader.

“I played some solid golf. My hitting and putting both were good. Unfortunately I lost a bit of concentration towards the end of my round where I had three bogeys in a row,” said the leader. “I lost the previous tournament due to my short game and during the break, I worked upon the same and it yielded results,” he added.  

Top scores after round-1

Category A
73 Sunit Chowrasia; 77 Parwez Khan; 80 Mohd. Imitiaz; 81 Viraj Khanna; 81 Vishesh Khanna

Category B
83 Gurkirat Singh; 88 Kunal Naidu; 90 Sharif Khan; 91 Zahed Khan

Category C
76 Hashan Rahman; 82 Devansh Chadha; 83 Bibek Sardar; 105 Firasat Ali Khan

Category D
81 Rajib Ali; 87 Sandeep Yadav; 100 Pratham Choudhary