Raghav Bhadari storms into the lead on day two of CNEB All India

Chandigarh, January 18, 2012: Local lad Raghav Bhadari seized the lead after hitting  one-under 70 for the total of 143 on the second day of CNEB All India Amateur Golf Championship at Chandigarh Golf Club here. Delhi’s Honey Baisoya remained on second position as he hit one-over 72 for the total of 143 while Bangalore’s Udayan Mane who was eighth yesterday, shot level-par 71 for the total of 144 to take the third position in a tie along with his colleague Khalin Joshi who finished fourth.

The day looked bright for Englishman Curtis Griffths who shot the best round of the day along with the leader of one-under 70 for the total of 145 in a tie along with Bangladeshi Mohd. Dulal Hossain, who shot two-over 73 for the total of 145 to take the sixth spot.

Yesterday’s leader Karan Taunk had a disappointing round as he hit 7-over 78 for the total of 148 to slip to the 12th position just behind S. Chikkaranppa who maintained his 11th position by hitting another three-over for the total of 148.

Bhandari, who moved to Delhi seven months ago started the day with a bogey on the opening hole, birdied the 4th, 13th and 15th and made a bogey on 17th. Bhandari said, “I played very easy shots on par-5 which I was missing yesterday. Since I have played at this course for 13 years and the confident actually helped me especially on the 12th hole where I hit the right rough and then chipped from there but managed to make good up and down for a good par.” 

Griffiths, 18, got a happy start as he sank a birdie on the very first hole, made a par on 2nd and birdied the 3rd which made him steady and strong for the rest of the round. Though, he made bogeys on 7th, 8th and 17th, two more birdies on 13th and 16th satisfied him as he shot the best score of the day. Griffiths, who represents The A Squad team in England said, “I was much more comfortable with the course conditions than yesterday. I drew a straight line on my ball and on every green; I was keeping it for the right alignment which really helped me today. Also, I am pretty excited about the match play because that’s all we play back home in England all the time.”

Chennai’s L. Selvadurai, Chandigarh’s Bismad Singh, Jammu’s Raghav Wahi and Bhutan’s duo Thiley Namgay and Captain Gyamba Dukpa couldn’t make a cut for the match play starting tomorrow.

In an international team championship played concurrently, the leading team was India “A” in which Honey Baisoya (71,72) and Angad Cheema (72, 75) played for the team total of 290 while India “B” became second which represented by S. Chikkarangappa (74,74) and Khalin Joshi (73,71) for the total of 292. Curtis Griffiths (75, 70) and Jack Colegate (75, 73) of England were one point behind at 293 while Sri Lankan team (N Thangaraja & Vijita Bandara) came fourth with 296 points. Bangladeshi team of Mohd Nazim (79,78) and Mohd Dulal Hossain (72,73) came fifth for the total of 302, India “C” (Gagan Verma & Siddharth Semwal) was 6th  for the team total of 306 while Bhutan (Capt. Gyamba Dukpa & Thinley Namgay) finished 7th with 364 who did not qualify for the match play. 

Photo caption: Raghav Bhadari in action at Chandigarh Golf Club on January 18, 2012.

Press Release