Kolkata: On a day when Thailand were expected to hog the limelight, Sun I Yu shot a superb 3-under par 69 to lead Chinese Taipei ‘A’ into lead at the end of the first round of the Asia Pacific Junior Golf Championship that teed off at the historic Royal Calcutta Golf Club here on Wednesday. Sun Yu along with team-mate Chun An Yu who shot a 76 posted a team total of 145. String contenders and hosts India ‘A’ were placed just a stroke behind with Manu Gandas and Viraj Madappa shooting an identical score of 1-over par 73 for a team total of 146.
Thailand ‘B’ team comprising of Suradit Yongcharoenchai and Ekthumrong Luanganuruk were in third place at 152 while the Indian ‘B’ team of Karandeep Kochhar and Arjun Prasad and the Thailand ‘A’ team which included Thanakorn Torsee and Natchapon Eaksen were tied for the fourth place at 153.
Viraj Madappa and Manu Gandas were four shots behind the leader Sun Yu to be tied-second in the individual catgeory. Chang-Heng Lin of Chinese Taipei and Suradit Yongcharoenchai were tied for the fourth place at 74 while as many as three players - Thanakorn Torsee (THAI), Karandeep Kochhar (IND), and Feroz Singh Garewal (IND) were all tied for the sixth position at 75.
Coming back after a break of two months owing to a bad patch of form, Sun Yu who is one of the best players from Chinese Taipei shrugged off the rusty form and the notions about Indian weather and food as he went about the business in the right earnest. “Having played the practice round, I realized that it is a tough course and I thought of making pars,” said Yu. With a lone birdie on the par-5 fourth on his front nine, Yu was just happy not to commit any mistakes. On the back nine, with two consecutive birdies on the 15th and 16th , Yun returned home safe and dry. “The course is very tough in terms of length. And even after you reach the green, you need to tackle the tricky greens,” said the leader who hit 12 greens in regulation while making 28 putts.
Although Viraj made four birdies in his round, he also made five mistakes while Manu made three birdies against four bogeys. With the players breathing in each other’s neck, an exciting finish is on the cards.
Top scores after 18 holes
Individual
69 Sung I Yu (Chinese Taipei ); 73 Manu Gandas (IND); Viraj Madappa (IND); 74 Chang-Heng Lin (Chinese Taipei), Suradit Yongcharoenchai (THA); 75 Thanakorn Torsee (THAI), Karandeep Kochhar (IND), Feroz Singh Garewal (IND); 76 Chun An Yu (Chinese Taipei); 78 Mohan Sardar (IND), Arjun Prasad (IND), Ekthumrong Luanganuruk (THA), Natchapon Eaksen (THA)
Team
145 Chinese Taipei ‘A’(Sung I Yu, Chun An Yu); 146 India `A’ (Manu Gandas, Viraj Madappa); 152 Thailand ‘B’ (Suradit Yongcharoenchai, Ekthumrong Luanganuruk); 153 India ‘B’ (Karandeep Kochhar, Arjun Prasad), Thailand ‘A’ (Thanakorn Torsee, Natchapon Eaksen); 158 Chinese Taipei (Shu-Ya Huang, Chang-Heng Lin)