Harjai Milkha Singh wins US Kids Golf Euro C’ship title

By Rahul Banerji

Chandigarh’s Harjai Milkha Singh topped the Boys 13 category of the US Kids Golf European Championships in Scotland on Thursday.

The 13-year-old son of Jeev Milkha Singh shot a final round of 3 under 69 that included seven birdies against four dropped shots to beat his closest opponent by two shots.

It was an action-packed round at Royal Musselburgh Golf Club that began with two birdies and ended with two bogeys.

Harjai’s win capped a good week for a 16-strong Indian squad, which saw another Chandigarh lad, Nihal Cheema finish second in the Boys Under 7 at Longniddry Golf Club.

Gurgaon golfer Mahreen Bhatia closed with an eagle to finish second in the Girls 13-14, also at Royal Musselburgh.

Bangalore’s Adit Veeramachaneni was fourth in. the Boys 9 category, while Vihaan Jain was tied for fifth in the Boys 13 in the event played across five Scottish courses.

Arshvant Srivastava returned a 69 to finish seventh in the same section. Ananyaa Sood was fifth in the Girls 12 and Naina Kapoor was tied eighth among the Girls 11.

Overall, the group had two seconds, besides three top-five finishes and two more in the top 10. All three Indian girls were top 10 in their respective groups,

The toast of the contingent was Harjai, whose father won the iconic Scottish Open in 2012.

Family tradition

It was also in the UK in 1958 that Harjai’s grandfather, the great Milkha Singh, won India’s first-ever athletics gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales.

In every sense, Harjai was carrying on a glorious family tradition.

Jeev is a multiple winner on the European, Japan and Asia Tours. After turning 50 last year, he now plays on the Seniors Tours in Europe, Japan and occasionally in the US.

After rounds of 72 and 70 on the first two days, Harjai opened with birdies on the first two holes of the final round.

He bogeyed the third, birdied the fifth and then bogeyed seven and birdied eigh as he turned in 2 under.

His closest rival Jordan Botha, who started the final day two shots behind was now three behind with the final nine holes to go.

Both teenagers picked up momentum on the back nine. Harjai birdied thrice to go 5 under for the day. Botha responded with three of his own to get to 2 under for the day but the gap was five shots with two holes to play.

Late wobble

The Indian youngster wobbled with a bogey-bogey finish and Botha managed a birdie on 17 but the winning margin for Harjai was still a handy two shots.

Starting the final day two shots behind Thailand-based Sean Wilding, Nihal Cheema remained two behind as both players shot 3 over 39s in the final nine holes for the Under 7 category.

Unable to find a birdie on the day, Nihal took sole second place.

Mahreen Bhatia, who shared the first-round lead, had four birdies and three bogeys in the first 14 holes.

After a further three pars, she closed in style with an eagle on the par-5 18^th to finish second behind American Amy Burton, who had a 9 under 207 to the Indian’s 3 under 213.

Indian results

Boys Under 7 (Longniddry GC – 9 holes): 2^nd Nihaal Cheema 36-32-39 (-1)

Boys 8 (Longniddry GC – 9 holes): T20 Sahib Ajula 42-39-41

Boys 9 (Musselburgh GC) 4^th Adit Veeramachaneni (72-72-75) 219 (+3)

T13 Siddhant Sharma (80-76-76)

Boys 10 (Craigielaw GC): T16 Vidit Aggarwal 75-83-80; T46 Aarnav Patel95-89-99

Boys 11 (Craigielaw GC): 47th Paranjaay Mahtani 102-98-94

Boys 12 (Glen Golf Club):T-1 Devvrat Singh Rajawat 82-84-74; 36^th Rayan Sao (80-80-83);

Boys 13 (Royal Musselburgh GC): 1st Harjai Milkha Singh 72-70-69 (-5);

T-5 Vihaan Jain (73-72-73) 218 (+2); 7th Arshvant Srivastava 75-75-69 (+3)

Boys 15-18 (Musselburgh GC): 11tth Manyaveer Bhadoo 82-81-76

Girls 11 (Royal Musselburgh GC): 8th Naina Kapoor (81-75-79)

Girls 12 (Glen Golf Club): 5^th Ananyaa Sood (77-75-79)

Girls 13-14 (Royal Musselburgh GC): 2nd Mahreen Bhatia 69-75-69 (-3)

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