Aryan scores historic double at 119th All-India Amateur; Anika shines

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Aryan Roopa Anand
Aryan Roopa Anand with his All India Matchplay Amateur trophy, which he won at the Eagleton course near Bangalore on Sunday. Image courtesy Twitter.

By Rahul Banerji

Aryan Roopa Anand delivered on his long-standing promise with a first-ever double at the just-concluded 119th All-India Amateur Matchplay Golf Championship that was played at the Eagleton Golf Resort near Bangalore from December 12 to 15.

Aryan, who trains under Tarun Sardesai at the Zion Hills facility outside of India’s Silicon Valley, edged out Rajasthan’s Prakhar Asawa in a 36-hole thriller which Aryan won 1-up.

Aryan, who turns 18 this week held on well to beat Asawa who took the match down to the wire on Sunday.

The Mysore golfer made it a first-ever double in the 119-year history of the tournament by also winning the stroke-play title with a two-day aggregate of 135 (67-68).

‘Yet to sink in’

“It feels great to win the prestigious crown, it’s yet to sink in,” Aryan was quoted as saying. “And to become the first golfer to win both the strokeplay and matchplay is icing on the cake.”

Tweeted the Indian Golf Union on the result, “Congrats to our All India champ Aryan Roopa Anand on his winning out 119th edition, joining illustrious lineup of past winners.

“Our commiserations to Prakhar Asawa who lost being just 1 down after 36 holes. Best wishes to the both of you for a glorious future.”

See-saw battle

Aryan, who recorded his maiden win on the amateur circuit last month, led 1 up after the first set of 18 holes and the match continued to see-saw all the way till the 35th hole which he birdied. The two then halved the final hole to hand the title to the 17-year-old.

In the semi-finals, Aryan got past Aditya Chahal of Haryana 1 up while Asawa comfortably got the better of Telengana’s Anirudh K. 5&4.

Aryan had in June this year also won the three-day Singapore junior championship by a two-shot margin from his nearest challenger, Singapore’s Sean Lee.

Results

Match-play: Final: Aryan Roopa Anand (Karnataka) bt Prakhar Asawa (Rajasthan) 1 up.

Semi-finals: Asawa bt Anirudh K. (Telengana) 5&4, Anand bt Aditya Chahal (Haryana) 1 up.

Quarter-finals: Anand bt Keshav Mishra (Maharashtra) 2 up, Chahal bt Akshay Neranjen (Karnataka) 3&2, Anirudh bt Sandeep Yadav (Bengal) 5&4, Asawa bt Aryaman Mohan (Maharashtra) 1 up.

Stroke-play (top-10): 1. Aryan Roopa Anand (Karnataka) 67-68, 135; 2. Darsh Shokeen (Haryana) 70-69, 139; 3. Rohan Dhole Patil (Maharashtra) 71-69, 140; 4. Shubham Jaglan (Delhi) 73-69, 142; T5. Akshay Neranjen (Karnataka) 72-71, 143 and Pranav Mardikar (Mahrashtra) 72-71, 143; T7. Anirudh K. (Telengana) 79-66, 145, Dhruv Suri (Gujarat) 76-69, 145, Girraj Singh Khadka (Rajasthan) 75-70, 145 and Divesh Rana (Haryana) 70-75, 145.

Anika tops IMG event in Florida

Anika Varma
Anika Varma with her IMG Junior World Florida Challenge trophy which she won on Monday. Image courtesy Twitter.

There was more good news for Indian golf with top junior Anika Varma winning the IMG Junior World Florida Challenge for girls (15-18 years) at Sara Bay in Sarasota, Florida on Monday.

Anika, who scored a top-five finish at this year’s Hero Women’s Indian Open, aggregated a 3-over par 219 to win comfortably from her nearest challenger, Anri Sato of Japan. Sate finished seven shots behind the Indian.

In October, Anika recorded the best finish by an Indian amateur since Meghna Bal 12 years ago as she came in fifth overall eight shots behind winner Christine Wolf of Austria.

Earlier in the year, she also qualified for the 71st US Girls Championship where she was eliminated in the Round of 32, at the SentryWorld course in Wisconsin.

Anika is now based in Sacremento, California. Delhi’s Romit Bose has steered much of her career and she has been with Auburn-based coach Noah Montgomery, who also works with Gaganjeet Bhullar.

Results (top-10): 1. Anika Varma (India) 72-72-75, 219; 2. Anri Sato (Japan) 79-72-75, 226; T3. Viktoria Krnacova (USA) 76-77-74, 227, Luisamariana Mesones Goray (Peru) 77-77-73, 227, Bridget Ma (USA) 77-76-74, 227, Valentina Zuleta (Colombia) 70-75-82, 227; T7. Sera Hasegawa (Japan) 78-76-74, 228, Amy Shi (China) 77-77-74, 228, Yu Shang (Singapore) 76-75-77, 228, Gianna Clemente (USA) 74-77-77, 228.

Also read: Singapore Junior Golf Championship gold for Aryan Roopa Anand

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