Chikkarangappa faces Baisoya in Goodricke East India final

S. Chikkarangappa 

Kolkata, December 24, 2011: Currently No. 1 on the Indian amateur circuit, S. Chikkarangappa gave a one on one answer of last week’s RCGC Cup deficit to Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema after beating him in the semi-finals match play of Goodricke East India Amateur Golf Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club here. Chikka won the match for 3 and 1 and will now fight against the young Delhi boy Honey Baisoya, who also got into the finals defeating Bangalore’s Khalin Joshi for 2 and 1. 

The match was closer for Chikka than the score indicated. The two-time winner of All-India Amateur, Chikka and The winner of SAARC Championship, Cheema, both made pars on the first two holes while Chikka birdied the 3^rd to take the early lead. After halving 5^th for birdies and 6^th for par, Chikka got the upper hand on 6^th after making a birdie for going 2-up while Cheema was sitting for a par. Before Cheema could go for 8-footer Par putt, Chikka made another birdie on the 7^th to go 3-up.  After halving 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th, Chikka got disturbed with a patch on the green on 11^th and lost to remain 2-up where Cheema double putted to win his first match of the day. An aggressive Chikka then again went 3-up quickly after making a 3-feet birdie on the 12^th   and Cheema gave up for the Par. A Turning point came on the 16^th when Chikka hit his driver on the right side and for the sake of playing the smart shot, he went into the hazard to loose the hole but remained 2-up while Cheema made a birdie from 3-foot to won the hole. Chikkka then, responded with a bogey on the 17^th to seal the victory where Cheema’s ball lipped out for a double bogey.

On the other hand, Honey’s birdies on the first two holes put him up quickly but as Khalin birdied the 4^th from 100 yards after both of them halved the 3th and Honey remained 1-up. After halving 5^th, 6^th and 7^th, Joshi squared the match on the 8^th by making a 20-foot birdie. Once they halved the 9^th, Joshi answered again with back-to-back birdies on 10^th and 11^th to go 2-up. A birdie on 12^th   and 14^th  by Baisoya, the winner of Asia Pasific Championship in Thailand this year, evened the match for the second and final time.  When Joshi couldn’t get up and down from the green on 17^th, Baisoya made birdie to win the match.

After throwing the winning ball into the gallery, Baisoya said, “It’s my first time to make it to the finals of an amateur match play championship in India and I am very excited to play with the country’s No.1 player tomorrow. Though, I have experience of playing with the top Professionals on the international soil, it would be one of my dream victories if I clinch the East-India title.” 

Press Release