Harjai leads as Indians hold their own at US Kids Golf Euro C’ship

By Rahul Banerji

Harjai Milkha Singh of Chandigarh finished with three birdies to lead the boys 13 category of the US Kids Golf European Championship in Scotland on Wednesday.

Harjai, son of Jeev Milkha Singh and grandson of India’s Olympic icon Milkha Singh, carded a 2 under 70 for a 142 total and a two-shot lead in his event ahead of three others.

Playing in extreme cold, Harjai was one of a group of 16 Indians showing out strongly across five courses where the championship is being played.

The Indians, who gained entry into the event after solid showings on the local circuit, had another fine day at the highly competitive European Championship.

Chandigarh’s Nihal Cheema, the youngest member of the squad was tied for second in the boys Under 7 while Adit Veeramachaneni of Bangalore was sole third in the boys 9 section.

Vihaan Jain was tied for fifth place in the boys 13 group.

First day co-leader Mahreen Bhatia slipped from a share of first place to tied third with a 75 in the girls 13-14 category at the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club.

Naina Kapoor (81-85) rose from tied eighth to T5 in the Girls 11 section also at Royal Musselburgh Golf Club while Ananyaa Sood (77-75) slipped from tied sixth to seventh in the girls 12 at Glen Golf Club.

Telling recovery

In the competitive boys 13 event, Harjai (72-70) was 2 over after seven holes with one birdie and three bogeys, but a birdie on eight saw him turn in one over par.

On the back nine, he was in full flow and birdied three of the last five holes.

With a round to go, Harjai leads American Colin McAskin (73-71), South Africa’s Jordan Botha (75-69) and Kodi Dean of England (77-67).

In the same group, Vihaan stayed T5 with scores of 73 and 72 as he dropped two late shots on the day.

The third player in the section, Arshvant Srivastava had a late triple bogey and ended with a second straight 75 to drop to tied 11^th.

Nihal stood out with a superb bogey-free 4-under 32 and rose to second in the boys Under 7, where rounds are of nine holes each at Longniddry Golf Club.

Nihal rose from T5 to sole second behind the Thailand-based Sean Wilding (29-37).

Adit shot a second straight 72 at Musselburgh Golf Club and moved up from fourth to third, five behind leader, Belgium’s Victor Bernardini (71-68).

In the boys 10 section, Vidit dropped from T3 to a share of 13^th with rounds of 75 and 83, while

Manyaveer Bhadoo (82-81) slipped T11 to T12^th in the boys 15-18.

Harjai and Mahreen have also qualified for the International Team for the Van Horn Cup to be held after the individual event.

Indian results

Boys Under 7 (Longniddry GC – 9 holes): T2 Nihaal Cheema 36-32;

Boys Under 8 (Longniddry GC – 9 holes): T21 Sahib Ajula 42-39;

Boys 9 (Musselburgh GC): 3^rd Adit Veeramachaneni 72-72; T15 Siddhant Sharma 80-76

Boys 10 (Craigielaw GC): T13 Vidit Aggarwal 75-83; T45 Aarnav Patel 95-89

Boys 11 (Craigielaw GC): 47th Paranjaay Mahtani 102-98

Boys 12 (Glen Golf Club): T33 Rayan Sao 80-80; T42 Devvrat Singh Rajawat 82-84

Boys 13 (Royal Musselburgh GC): 1st Harjai Milkha Singh 72-70; T5 Vihaan Jain 73-72; T11 Arshvant Srivastava 75-75

Boys 15-18 (Musselburgh GC): 12^th Manyaveer Bhadoo 82-81

Girls 11 (Royal Musselburgh GC): T5 Naina Kapoor 81-75

Girls 12 (Glen Golf Club): 7^th Ananyaa Sood 77-75

Girls 13-14 (Royal Musselburgh GC): T3 Mahreen Bhatia 69-75

Also read: Mahreen shares lead at US Kids Golf European Championships