Gurugram, Dec 11
Indian golfers held the spotlight on the opening day of the fourth edition of the US Kids Golf Indian Championships at the Classic Golf and Country Club. Many of the opening round leaders have been winners in local tour events and have also won medals at past Indian and other international events.
A total of 79 players from seven countries are taking part in the event, which awards WAGR points besides Junior Scoreboard and AJGA, which help gain spots into US Kids major international events.
The three-day 54-hole event saw a stunning performance from Pritish Singh Karayat who carded 6-under 66 to open a six-shot lead over three others, He had eight birdies, four on either side of the course and had one bogey each side of the course. Vivaan Ubhayakar, Armaan Thapar and Ranveer Singh Dhupia all shot even par 72 each at the Jack Nicklaus-designed course.
Giving them a close fight were Arshvant Srivastava and Sidhant Nathan who carded 2-over 74 each as the group promised a tense battle over the next two days.
Nihal Cheema in Boys 7-under with 2-under 34 for a nine-hole round, Kabir Goyal 71 (-1) in Boys 9, and Jot Sarup Gupta 71 (-1) in Boys 10 and Sohraab Singh Talwar 72 (Even) in Boys 11 were the other top stars scoring par or under in the first round.
Cheema had four birdies against three bogeys, while Kabir Goyal had four birdies against three bogeys. Jot Sarup had two birdies against one bogey in Boys 10 while Sohraab had four birdies and four bogeys.
Among girls, Naina Kapoor turned in a fine show with 2-under 70 and led the section. Naina Kapoor had five birdies against three bogeys. Shambhavi Chaturvedi (75) was ahead in the Girls' 13-14 segment. Ahana Shah (37) and Aahana Shrivastava (38) were in a close fight with Girls 7 and under.
The three-day event awards Priority Status which can help golfers qualify for US Kids Major events in regional, international, European, World teen and world championships. This is the fourth edition of the premier junior international championship.
Leading scores: Round 1:
Boys 7&U: 1. Nihal Cheema 34; 2. Keeon Agarwal and Shabd Agarwwal 48
Boys 8: T-1. Rohit Patel (US) 46 and Samar Singh 46
Boys 9: 1. Kabir Goyal 71; 2. Divjot Gupta 73
Boys 10: 1. Jot Sarup Gupta 71; 2. Drona Singh Dhull 76
Boys 11: 1. Sohrab Singh Talwar 72 (ev); 2. Siddhant Sharma 75 (+3)
Boys 12: 1. Vidit Agarwal 78 (+6); 2, Dhruv V Singh (86 (+14)
Boys 13-14: 1. Smyaan Gupta 74; T-2. Devvraj Singh Rajawat, Rannvijay Singh Gill and Rayan Sao and Sohang Singh Kantor - all 78
Boys 15-18: 1. Pritish Singh Karayat 66 (-6); 2. Vivaan Ubhayakar, Armaan Thapar and Ranveer Singh Dhupia - all 72 (Ev)
Girls 8 & U: 1. Ahana Shah 37; 2. Aahana Shrivastava 38
Girls 9-10: 1. Ria Nenavath 91; 2. Aaradhya Bhatnagar 92
Girls 11-12: 1. Naina Kapoor 70; Aanya Dandriyal 81
Girls 13-14: 1. Shambhavi Chaturvedi 75; 2. Riddhima Singh 79
Girls 15-18: 1. Ayesha Gupta 80; 2. Nayonika Kapoor 85