Even at the Indian Open, cricket ain’t too far away

By Rahul Banerji

Die-hard cricket follower and European Tour regular Brandon Stone is out to make Bernd Wiesberger a fan of his second favourite sport before they are done at the Hero Indian Open 2019 here this week.

Sitting alongside the long-hitting Austrian who is a self-confessed skiing fan and knows less than nothing about cricket at a meet the press at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon on Tuesday, the South African said he was keen to catch some IPL action before flying out of India,

“I’ve got mates playing for Delhi Capitals in Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris who have promised me tickets for the matches against Chennai Super Kings today and Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday,” the 25-year-old Scottish Open winner said.

“I’ll probably take Bernd along with me for the KKR game, and hopefully by the time that’s done, he will have some idea about cricket,” Stone added.

Out of the loop

For his part, Wiesberger sat with a slightly befuddled look through the exchange. Asked whether he was supporting CSK or KKR or Delhi Capitals, he deadpanned that he was backing the better cricket team to win. “I have no idea which one that will be though,” he said.

“By the time we’re done, he (Wiesberger) will hopefully have become a Delhi Capitals fan, and of cricket,” Stone added, grinning.

Stone said watching an IPL game in India had been on his list of things to do ever since he had watched the tournament when it was played in South Africa in 2009.

“That was brilliant and I’ve always wanted to see an IPL game in India ever since. I’m definitely going to be at the Saturday game, hopefully with a few birdies under my belt and sitting comfortably in the tournament.”

World team outdo Asians

Meanwhile, Wiesberger, who is just getting back from injury, steered the World side to a comfortable win in the Hero Skills Challenge.

The Austrian, who was out of action from May to November last year with a wrist injury, showed good skills he won the Rest of the World three of the four Skills against an Asian foursome at an action-packed forerunner of the 2019 Hero Indian Open, which gets under way on Thursday.

The Beast bares its fangs early

The challenge was played out at the ninth hole of the Gary Player course, now rapidly becoming popular by its new moniker, the Beast of the East.

Each Skill win was worth $2,500, which meant the RoW picked up $7,500, while the Asians took away $2,500 with winnings going to a charity.

Prizes were given away by Hero MotoCorp chairman, Dr. Pawan Munjal.

RoW were led by Pablo Larrazabal and included his Spanish compatriot Adrian Otaegui, the second highest ranked player in the field, Stone and Wiesberger.

Shiv Kapur captained the Asians and included two-time Hero Indian Open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia, Asian Tour 2018 no. 1, Shubhankar Sharma and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, who has been having a great season.

Leading the way

It was Kapur, who set the ball rolling for the home team, as he hit his chip shot from 80-odd yards to 18 inches with his first attempt and decided to forego his next two attempts as RoW’s Larrazabal and Otaegui were further than that from the pin. Chawrasia was the second Asian player in the Challenge.

The next Skill required precision and Wiesberger hit a platform on the lake with a Hero bike on it twice in three shots. For Asia, Chawrasia failed on all three tries and Jazz managed it once in three shots. Stone also failed in his attempts.

Larrazabal was the best when it came to the bunker shot from 67 yards and hit it to five feet and five inches Shubhankar and Jazz were unable to get closer than that. Otaegui was the second RoW player.

In the final Challenge, the long putt, Wiesberger was again the best in getting his ball to 15 inches of the pin. Kapur and Shubhankar had a go for Asia but came up short

Also read: Thomas set for Indian Open; Merit leader Jazz heads Thai challenge