By Rahul Banerji
Prince Bainsla, from Palwal in Haryana, in the Boys 13-14 and Ludhiana’s Danish Verma in the Boys 12 produced standout performances at the three-day US Kids Golf Indian Championships.
Other eye-catching performances at the Classic Golf and Country Club came from Kabir Goyal of Noida in the Boys 8 and Veer Ganapathy of Bangalore in the Boys 15-18.
The four young stars all produced scores of par or better in winning their respective categories at US Kids Golf India’s flagship event.
The single most impressive round came from Danish, who fired a brilliant 9-under 63 at the par-72 layout on the second day which for the Boys 12 was played over 5,665 yards.
Impressive numbers
Verma, who had rounds of 73-63-75 for a 5-under 211, is a regular on the local US Kids Tour. His efforts included a stunning albatross on the 420-yard par-5 fourth hole, where he holed his second shot.
Verma also had an eagle on the Par-5 14 and four other birdies in a bogey-free round for a four-shot win over Jashan Ganapathy, another talented golfer from Bangalore, who carded 73-72-70 for a 1-under 215.
Honours were distributed among players from across the country, as Bangalore, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab produced two winners each, while there was one each from Noida, Palwal and Mumbai.
There were other podium finishers from those centres, too.
Among other states, Gujarat, also did well with one second place and a third place.
There was also one winner from Singapore, Amiya Koul, who is of Indian origin.
US Kids Golf India president Rajesh Srivastava noted, “It is heartening to see golf spread all over India, It is not concentrated in one area – we had winners from all zones and podium finishes in Top-3 from many other states and cities.
Wide sweep
“It shows that US Kids Golf is achieving its mission of taking the sport all over. We now look forward to spreading it across Asia with India as the hub.”
Bainsla, the prodigy from Palwal, who is supported by the US Kids Golf India, began the week with a 74 but added 71-70 on the next two days for 1-under 215, which was better than Boys-15-18 winner Veer Ganapathy (72-70-74).
Veer and Jashan are coached by their father, Rahul Ganapathy, a former India professional, who now runs an academy in Bangalore, and also conducts the US Kids Golf local Tour there.
Bainsla’s effort saw him open his World Amateur Golf Ranking account as he beat a combined field of 30-odd players playing in the Boys 13-14 and Boys 15-18 Categories.
Kabir Goyal, who shot 36-33-33 in Boys 8 event who played over nine holes each day, was par or better on all days.
Vidit Aggarwal, second in Boys 11, sank a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th hole, which measured 120 yards for his age group.
Players from nine countries took part in the Indian Championships, from where earned Priority Points to qualify for the US Kids European and World Championships.
US Kids Golf India will have its last two local events later this month.
All the results
Boys 7 (9 holes): 1, Nihal Cheema (Chandigarh, 43-36-35) 114; 2. Zorawar Singh Chahal (Mohali, 42-38-42) 122; 3. Ruslaan Alam Khan (Bangalore, 49-45-40) 134
Boys 8 (9 holes): 1. Kabir Goyal (Noida, 36-36-33) 105; T2: Sahib Aujla (Chandigarh, 42-38-40) 120; Divjot Gupta (Jalandhar, 41-42-37) 120
Boys 9: 1. Rudar Gupta (Jalandhar, 70-72-76) 218; 2. Guransh Singh Gujral (Punjab, 85-87-80) 252
Boys 10: 1. Sohraab Singh Talwar (Mohali, 78-72-68) 218; 2. Adit Veeramachaneni (Bangalore, 72-77-70) 219; T3. Arnav Patel (Gujarat, 78-72-77) 227 and Siddhant Sharma (Haryana, 78-77-72) 227
Boys 11: 1. Aditya Mishra (Delhi, 76-79-73) 228; 2. Vidit Aggarwal (Delhi, 80-76-81) 237; 3. Paranjay Mahtani (Mumbai, 83-88-82) 253
Boys 12: 1. Danish Verma (Ludhiana, 73-63-75) 211; 2. Jashan Ganapathy (Bangalore, 73-72-70) 215; 3. Siddhaan Chhibber (Dubai, 75-80-75) 230
Boys 13-14: 1. Prince Bainsla (Haryana, 74-71-70) 215; 2. Rannvijay Singh Gill (73-75-72) 220; 3. Armaan Gawde (Mumbai, 78-75-71) 224
Boys 15-18: 1. Veer Ganapathy (Bangalore, 72-70-74) 216; T2. Ranveer Singh Dhupia (Delhi, 73-72-72) 217 and Pritish Singh Karayat (Delhi, 74-70-73) 217
Girls 8 (9 holes): 1. Ahana Shah (Mumbai, 42-36-35) 113; 2. Ridhima Kapoor (Bangalore, 41-38-38) 117; 2. Aaradhya Bhatnagar (Noida, 46-53-45) 144
Girls 9-10: 1. Aida Thimmaiah (Bangalore, 79-77-74) 230; 2. Ruvishka Chudsama (Gujarat, 97-96-94) 287; 3. Morgan Tucnik (Canada, 99-98-99) 296
Girls 11-12: Amiya Koul (Singapore, 71-78-68) 217, 2. Naina Kapoor (Haryana, 81-73-71) 225; 3. Smira Bhandari (Haryana, 78-81-78) 237.
Girls 13-14: 1. Ananyaa Sood (Delhi, 81-72-74) 227; 2. Parnika Sharma (Noida, 77-73-81) 231; 3. Anandita Baloria (Delhi, 83-88-81) 252
Also read: Ganapathy brothers start well at US Kids Golf Indian C’ships
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