Navratna Ahmedabad cruise to victory against Puravankara Bangalore
Vinod, Mithun & Vikrant make it 3-0 for Ahmedabad
Bangalore, March 10, 2012: Navratna
Ahmedabad cruised to victory with a 3-0 margin against Puravankara
Bangalore in the final encounter of the inaugural Louis Philippe Cup at
the KGA golf course in Bangalore on Saturday. The Navratna Ahmedabad
team comprising of Vikrant Chopra, Vinod Kumar and Mithun Perera took
home prize money worth Rs. 36,00,000 after they beat Puravankara
Bangalore that consisted of Anirban Lahiri, Manav Jaini and Abhishek
Jha.
Navratna
Ahmedabad’s Vinod Kumar saved his best for the last as he shot his best
score of the week so far, a three under over 14 holes, in his match
against the reigning All India Matchplay champion Manav Jaini of the
Puravankara Bangalore team. Vinod went ahead on the second hole with a
birdie before Manav made it all square with a birdie on the third.
Vinod
then went on a roll as he pocketed the fifth, sixth and seventh to
build a lead of three at the turn. He sank a mammoth 35-feet putt for
birdie on the seventh. The 32-year-old inched closer to victory with
wins on the 11th and 12th holes. His approach shot landed within six feet and set up a birdie on the 12th. Vinod sealed the match 5 & 4 after both the players halved the 14th.
“I
kept up the intensity through the week since I shot a total of eight
under in four rounds. My hitting was spot-on on all days and I saved a
lot of pars. This win could be a turning point in my career as it has
instilled a lot of self-belief in me. I would like to thank our team
captain Vikrant for giving me a lot of invaluable advice and also our
team sponsors Navratna for their constant support,” said Vinod, who won
his maiden professional title last year.
Mithun
Perera’s 3 & 2 triumph against Abhishek Jha gave Ahmedabad an
unassailable 2-0 lead over hosts Bangalore in the final encounter and
helped them win the Louis Philippe Cup 2012. Perera won the first,
seventh, eighth, 13th, 15th and 16th
holes while Jha bagged the third and fifth holes. The highlights of
Mithun’s round were a couple of amazing second shots on the first and
seventh that helped him knock-in birdies.
Vikrant
Chopra overcame local favourite Anirban Lahiri in the third match.
Anirban won the first hole with a birdie but Vikrant came back strongly
to claim the sixth and 14th with pars to go one up. Lahiri conceded defeat to Chopra on the 15th
hole immediately after Ahmedabad won the second match of the encounter
to take a 2-0 lead. Ahmedabad thus made a clean sweep with a 3-0
score-line.
Chopra
said, “I played solid, regulation golf today and won with a par score. I
hit it really close through the week. I wasn’t putting well on the
first few holes today but my caddie advised me to hang in there and not
lose focus. There is a different kind of pressure in team events since
one does not want to let his team down at any stage. However, I was
confident of our team’s chances going into the final day. I knew I could
take on Anirban as both of us are long-hitters.
“This
win means a lot to me. I would like to thank my team-mates Vinod and
Mithun for making it a total team effort. I would also like to thank the
Navratna team owners Mr. Devang Shah and Mr. Pranav Shah for all their
support and encouragement,” added Vikrant, who is yet to win his first
individual professional title.
In the face-off for
third and fourth place, Take Chennai won all three matches against
Dev-Ellora Chandigarh to finish third.AVT Kolkata bagged fifth place
after they beat The 3C Delhi by a 2-1 margin. The 3C Delhi had to settle
for sixth position.Ansal
API Lucknow and Oxford Group West finished seventh and eighth
respectively after the former defeated the latter with a 3-0 margin.
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