Sachin Baisoya opens season with sparkling card at Players C’ship

By Rahul Banerji

Delhi golfer Sachin Baisoya opened the 2023 season on a fine note, hitting a brilliant six under par 64 for the day one Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship lead at Kolkata’s Tollygunge Club on Tuesday.

PGTI Qualifying School winner Aryan Roopa Anand of Bangalore and US-based Varun Chopra were tied for second on five-under 65 along with Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow, Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema, Delhi’s Ajay Baisoya and Patna’s Aman Raj.

Gaurav Pratap Singh (66) of Noida and Sunhit Bishnoi (67) of Gurgaon fired hole-in-ones on the day at the Rs 1 crore event, the PGTI said.

Gaurav (hole-in-one on 11^th) and Sunhit (6^th) were tied eighth and tied 14^th respectively.

Sachin Baisoya, who finished inside the top-25 of the PGTI Rankings, carried forward the momentum on Tuesday with seven birdies and a bogey.

Baisoya, a team bronze medallist for Delhi at the 2022 National Games, landed within five feet on five occasions thanks to accurate approach shots and chipping.

Good day out

The 27-year-old, who had seven top-10s in the last two seasons including two third-place finishes, said, “I had one of my best ball-striking days and that helped me score well on this relatively narrow layout.

“My tee shots and approach shots turned out as I had visualised.

“I’ve played well over the last two seasons and the podium finish at the National Games in 2022 gave me further impetus.

“I’m just trying to continue with the same mindset and hopefully the results will follow.”

Udayan Mane was tied 20^th on 68, Khalin Joshi was T32 on 69 and defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu was T60 on a one-over 71.

Rookies Anand and Chopra almost had matching rounds, though the former was one better as he went bogey free on the day while Varun had six birdies against one dropped shot in his 65.

Also read: Players C’ship presented by Tollygunge Club to open 2023 season