Franchise owners and strategists, 72 The League promoters and officials and PGTI brass at a group snap after Monday’s player auction in New Delhi. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
The auction for edition one of the PGTI’s 72 The League saw plenty of spirited battles on Monday in New Delhi among the six franchisees for the 10 players each needed from the available pool.
Each team had a budget of Rs 1 crore and at day’s end, the Capital Lancers (Delhi) splashed out the biggest number on their top buy, Rs 20.5 lakh for recent DP World PGTI winner Honey Baisoya.
The other teams in the league’s inaugural foray are Hyderabad-based Charminar Champions, Kolkata Classics, Mumbai Aces, Rajasthan Regals, and UP Prometheans.
Baisoya, riding high on his DP World Players Championship win at the Qutab Golf Course last week, was the top draw, closely followed by PGTI Q School winner Shubham Jaglan.
Placed in the Platinum category for a base price of Rs 10 lakh, the 29-year-old Baisoya was bagged by the Lancers after a three-way bidding war with Rajasthan Regals and Kolkata Classics.
Arjun Prasad, who has two top-10 finishes already this season – eighth at Qutab and tied ninth at the SECL Chhattisgarh Open – went to the Prometheans for Rs. 18 lakh.
Big gain
The biggest gainer however was Jaglan who sparked an intense bidding war among all six franchises.
Clubbed in the Silver category for a base price of Rs 3 lakh, Jaglan went to the Charminar Champions for Rs.19 lakh, over six times his base price.
The Hyderabad unit warded off a strong challenge from the Lancers and Aces, who consistently raised the stakes for the 21-year-old.
The 15-year-old Kartik Singh was expectedly another hot pick, going for an impressive Rs.14.40 lakh to the Aces after a determined battle with the Lancers and Charminar Champions.
Kartik was bracketed in the Silver category at a base price of Rs.3 lakh and eventually went for close to five times his starting value.
“He (Kartik) will learn a lot from this exposure,” 72 The League brand ambassador Arjun Atwal said.
“With so many seniors around and matchplay being very different from the usual stroke-play format, it is up to him to make the most of this experience,” India’s only PGA Tour winner added.
Besides the young guns, the auction also rewarded experience with veteran Mukesh Kumar, 60, snapped up by the savvy Kolkata team for Rs 7 lakh.
Among the internationals in the pool, Chhattisgarh Open winner Jhared Hack of the US led the way at Rs. 15.80 lakh, courtesy some aggressive raising of stakes from the Lancers.
Exciting times
Speaking on the auction’s outcome, Honey Baisoya said, “I’m very excited. I called my parents and I told them that I had a really good auction and they were very really happy.
“Good things have been happening from last three weeks and I’m really, really glad, really grateful. I’ve been working hard and I’m having a good time now.”
Added Jaglan, “I’m extremely excited and honoured to be representing the Charminar Champions in the first season of 72 The League.
“I know Manu (Gandas) will be on our team, which I’m extremely excited about and get the season underway.”
A total of 12 overseas professionals from seven countries were among those who made the shortlist of 60 on Monday.
“Hack, the most expensive of the 12, said, “I’m really excited that I just got drafted by the Capital Lancers. I heard Honey Baisoya is also on the team, which will be exciting.
“I’ve gotten to play with him a few times this year, so maybe we can pair up for some match play stuff.
“I’m excited too because I’ve been here a couple weeks playing only tournaments, so this will be a fun, exciting, different format.”
The League, jointly launched by PGTI and Game of Life Sports, will be played at the Classic Golf & Country Club, Jaypee Greens, and Qutab Golf Course.
Team lineups
Capital Lancers: Amardeep Singh Malik, Honey Baisoya, Mohd Azhar, Rohan Dhole Patil, Anant Singh Ahlawat, Stepan Danek, Shivendra Singh Sisodia, Jhared Hack, Joysurjo Dey, Vikrant Chopra.
Mumbai Aces: Veer Ahlawat, Tapendra Ghai, Saptak Talwar, Kartik Singh, Jamal Hossain, Kushal Singh, Divyanshu Bajaj, Pritish Singh Karayat, Aniket Sawant, Declan Kenny.
Charminar Champions: N. Thangaraja, Manu Gandas, Anshul Kabthiyal, Om Prakash Chouhan, Vishesh Sharma, Shubham Jaglan, Sydney Joseph Wemba, Marvin Kibirige, Anshul Patel, Dominic Piccirillo.
Rajasthan Regals: Ajeetesh Sandhu, Dhruv Sheoran, Michele Ortolani, Akshay Sharma, Jairaj Singh Sandhu, Chikkarangappa S., Aryaman Mohan, Yuvraj Singh, K. Prabagaran, Ayaan Gupta.
Kolkata Classics: Viraj Madappa, Khalin Joshi, Angad Cheema, Rashid Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shankar Das, Mithun Perera, Karan Verma, Ajay Baisoya, Aryav Shah.
UP Prometheans: Shaurya Bhattacharya, Arjun Prasad, Abhinav Lohan, Manoj S., Gaurav Pratap Singh, Arjun Sharma, Pranav Mardikar, Joshua Seale, Bikramjit Singh Sandhu, Himmat Rai.
Also read: Top 170 pros up for grabs at PGTI’s 72 The League auction
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