Arshvant. Divjot in the lead at USKG Malaysian Championships

By Rahul Banerji

Noida’s Arshvant Srivastava maintained pole position in the US Kids Golf Malaysian Championships with a 1-over 73 in the Boys 13-14 event at Shah Alam near Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

While Arshvant built on an opening 69 to reach 2-under par 142 after 36 holes, Divjot Gupta (40-37) also moved into the lead in the Boys 8 and Under at Glenmarie Golf and Country Club.

Arshvant, a multiple winner at USKG India events, had Kang Geon (74-71) in chase after the Korean returned the day’s best card. Arshvant, who was four ahead of the field after Day 1, still holds a three-stroke lead.

The Noida boy rallied late in the day after two early bogeys and then two more after the turn that nullified his first round five-shot lead over Kang.

The tide turned in the next three holes, as Kang bogeyed 14 and parred the rest, while Arshvant picked back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 to close the day three ahead.

Malaysia’s Maverick Chua (76-73) and Woosung Sun of Korea (73-76) were tied third as another Indian, Sohang Har Kantor (79-79), was tied for seventh and Ved Sai Machiraju (85-82) were T15.

Moving up

In Boys Under-8, Divjot and first-round leader, Clifton Michael Lumy of Indonesia (39-39) swapped places while the second Indian in the field, Ruslaan Alam Khan (44-44), held on to third place.

Divjot had two birdies and three bogeys in his 1-over 37 in the nine-hole competition while Lumy shot a 3-over 39.

Jot Sarup Gupta (77-90) who was second overnight slipped to third, as day one leader Aaron Zhang of China (73-77) stayed ahead in the Boys 10 and under.

In the Girls 13-14 category Kriti Parekh (83-84) also lost one place and was third after the second round with Wang Enxi (76-77) still leading the way.

Over 100 junior golfers from 16 countries, including 37 players from Malaysia and seven from India, are competing in the three-day tournament.

Also read: Arshvant leads at USKG Malaysian C’ships as Indians shine