Order of Merit leader Yuvraj Sandhu in action at the Kensville Golf & Country Club ahead of the inaugural Coal India Open that tees off on Tuesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerj
Action resumes after a three-month summer break on the men’s professsional golf tour with the Coal India Open at Ahmedabad’s Kensville course on Tuesday.
A field of 126 will contest the new Rs 1 crore event which is the first of 15 tournaments that will run through to the end of December, the PGTI said.
But before that, a word on the magnificent five Test matches that culminated at the Oval in London on Monday with a dramatic series-levelling six-run win for Shubman Gill’s Indians.
In some 36-plus years of covering and writing on the sport, I’ve not seen an India team play with such determination, grit and self-belief.
Time after time, the visiting team picked up the challenges thrown at them by a five England outfit and handed out a fitting reply each time.
The final 2-2 result after 25 days of hard-fought cricket was the only fitting outcome for two teams unwilling to concede an inch to the other. It was compelling drama all the way.
Over the last two months, India found heroes up and down the order but two individuals stood out, Gill with the bat and Mohammad Siraj with the ball.
Standing out
The skipper set a host of records and more importantly led from the front, while Siraj made light of a massive workload to lead the attack and come away as the highest wicket-taker on either side.
Fittingly it was the granite-willed Hyderabad fast bowler who sealed one of India’s finest overseas wins on Monday, and as his captain would say later, “we never gave up”.
It is a philosophy that is never easy to put into play, but my word, did Gill and his men make India proud today.
Determination and focus is what Order of Merit leader Yuvraj Sandhu and 125 fellow-professionals will also be hoping to find over the nest four days at the Kensville Golf & Country Club.
Event sponsor Coal India Limited is the world’s largest coal producer and comes on board as an event title sponsor on the PGTI for the first time.
Besides Sandhu, the field includes Om Prakash Chouhan, Manu Gandas and Udayan Mane, to name a few.
Leading overseas professionals include Sri Lankans N. Thangaraja and K. Prabagaran, Jamal Hossain and Badal Hossain of Bangladesh, and Nepal’s Sukra Bahadur Rai and Subash Tamang.
New partnership
Noted Coal India CMD P.M. Prasad,“We are excited to partner with the PGTI in staging the inaugural Coal India Open.
“This partnership is testament to our commitment to the growth of golf in India and also provides a platform to promote our core values of excellence, integrity and community engagement.”
Added PGTI CEO Amandeep Johl, “We are delighted to welcome Coal India Limited as title sponsor for the tournament that flags off the transformative second half of the season.
“This partnership significantly strengthens PGTI’s mission of providing maximum playing opportunities for Indian professionals.”
On Sunday, the Pro-Am was won by the team led by Shankar Das, the amateurs being Yohann Doongaji, Anish Patel and Chirag Thakkar.
Also read: Dominant Cheema wins Kapil Dev Grant Thornton Invitational
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