By Rahul Banerji
A composed 6-under par 66 carried Rashid Khan into a share of the lead after day four of the ongoing race for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou later this year.
At the Indian Golf Union’s five-day trial, Khan joined overnight leader Viraj Madappa and Karandeep Kochhar on 14-under par 274 with the four best cards of five to be counted towards selection.
The women’s section was, however, not as close with Jahanvi Bakshi and national amateur champion Avani Prakash opening up a healthy advantage over the rest of the field.
On aggregate, Jahanvi (69-69-69-69) has her nose ahead of the Bangalore-based amateur, but Avani (74-64-69-70) is better placed on best-score count, 203 to 207 after omitting the high card for each player.
Former nationals winner Sneha Singh (76-71-76-68) and Hitaashee Bakshi (68-74-74-74) are further down the line in third and fourth place with three-day bests of 215 and 216.
With Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik taking two of the three available places in the Hangzhou women’s golf competition, it is between Avani and Gurgaon-based Jahanvi to fill out the India team.
Similarly, on the men’s side that has four slots, Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma are the two automatic choices with the other two to be decided after Saturday’s fifth and final round at Bangalore.
Narrow advantage
On Friday, Guangzhou Asiad team silver medallist Rashid Khan rode his 66 into the sole lead on best-card count, 201 to 203 for Madappa, 204 for Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and 205 for Kochhar at the Karnataka Golf Association course.
Rashid has cards of 68-73-67-66 so far against Madappa’s 66-68-71-69 sequence.
Sandhu’s 68-70-76-66 put him behind Veer Ahlawat (66-73-69-71) on aggregate but the former is in third place after dropping his highest round.
Rashid’s three best rounds put him on 15-under (the 73 being discarded) against Madappa’s 13-under (71 being discarded).
For three best rounds, Yuvraj is 12-under and third and Kochhar, 11-under for his three best rounds is fourth.
Scores after round 4
Women
276: Jahanvi Bakshi (69-69-69-69)
277: Avani Prashanth (A) (74-64-69-70)
290: Hitaashee Bakshi (68-74-74-74)
291: Sneha Singh (A) (76-71-76-68)
292: Gaurika Bishnoi (74-72-72-74)
296: Kriti Chowhan (74-71-76-74)
299: Lakhmehar Pardesi (75-73-78-73)
301: Seher Atwal (74-75-76-76)
303: Heena Kang (A) (75-76-77-75)
308: Smriti Bhargava (A) (81-75-76-76)
313: Hunar Mittal (A) (75-84-78-76)
Men
274: Viraj Madappa (66-68-71-69), Rashid Khan (68-73-67-66), Karandeep Kochhar (69-69-69-67)
279: Veer Ahlawat (66-73-69-71)
280: Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (68-70-76-66), Udayan Mane (71-71-68-70)
283: Krishnav Nikhil Chopra (A) (72-69-71-71)
284: Chikkarangappa S. (76-67-72-69)
285: Khalin Joshi (69-73-74-69)
286: Shaurya Bhattacharya (A) (74-71-70-71)
287: Kshitij Naveed Kaul (69-73-73-72), Milind Soni (A) (68-78-69-72)
298: Atiksh Gupta (A) (73-76-75-74)
150: Aryan Roopa Anand (A) (78-72-78-71)
152: Yuvraj Singh (A) (77-75-74-77)
155: Shat Mishra (A) (78-77-77-73)
Also read: Madappa leads Asiad men’s trials; Jahanvi, Avani atop women’s section
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