Johl shocks Mukesh; Feroz
bows to Dinesh
Amandeep Johl continued his remarkable comeback from the depths of despair when he advanced to the pre-quarter finals of the Rs One million SRF All-India Matchplay golf championship, the final event of the Hero
Honda Golf Tour's 2001-02 season, after upsetting second seed Mukesh Kumar
at the Delhi Golf Club, on Wednesday.
Johl drained a 15-footer eagle putt on the final hole to go 1-up on Mukesh.
However, a representative from Mukesh's family would still be present in the
tournament with elder brother Dinesh Raghuvanshi registering a shock victory
over third seed Feroz Ali. Dinesh was 2-up after the final hole.
Giant-killer Suleman Ali, who upset the top-seed Arjun Atwal in the first
round, advanced to the pre-quarters with a 3&2 win over Monish Bindra.
The day's big winners included No 4 Vijay Kumar (5&4 against Raju Ali), No 5
Arjun Singh (7&6 against Indrajit Bhalotia) and No 11 SSP Chowrasia (5&4
against Akbar Ali).
Among the other seeds who failed to make it to the
pre-quarters were No 10 Rohtas Singh and No 14 Yusuf Ali. Rohtas lost by two
holes on the 18th to Mohammed Islam of Patna, while Dinesh Kumar got the
better of Yusuf on the final hole.
The Chandigarh-based Johl, who was out of action for almost two months at
the start of the year because of a wrist injury, went neck and neck with
Mukesh, the Order of Merit leader on the Hero Honda Golf Tour, throughout
the match. The Mhow player visited almost all the bunkers in the DGC course,
and lost three holes from the sand trap. Johl could have gone 1-up on the
17th but missed a five-footer birdie putt, before sinking the eagle putt on
the 18th that sealed the fate of the match.
"I found 16 greens in regulation today which proves I was hitting the ball
well. Mukesh was unlucky to find the traps but he made some brilliant
up-and-downs from them," said Johl, who is sponsored by SAIL.
"I think it is good that I have had two tough matches to begin with. It has given me a lot
of confidence. I am optimistic about my chances. Actually, I am thirsting
for a title," added the 33-year-old, whose last win was way back in 1994 at
the Surya Nepal Masters.
"I am not disappointed because I gave it my best shot and lost to a player
who played better than me on the final hole," said Mukesh after the loss.
Feroz, who sprained his left ankle which caused him pain and discomfort in
shifting weight during swing, found the dangerous DGC bushes in five of his
last nine holes.
"I was lucky to win today. I played well but Feroz was not
the player he normally is," said Dinesh, who birdied the 17th and won four of
the last six holes. "It is kind of weird that my brother (Mukesh) is out of
the tournament while I am still in it. But that is the beauty of matchplay
format," added the Pune-based player.
The quarter-final matches are also scheduled for Thursday and will start at
1:00 pm.
KEY RESULTS (Seedings in prefix): Amandeep Johl bt 2-Mukesh Kumar 1-up;
Dinesh Raghuvanshi bt 3-Feroz Ali 2-up; 4-Vijay Kumar bt Raju Ali 5&4;
5-Arjun Singh bt Indrajit Bhalotia 7&6; 6-Uttam Singh Mundy bt Gursimran
Sethi 3&2; 7-Shiv Prakash bt Pappan 3&2; 9-Sanjay Kumar bt Mohd Khokhon 3&2;
11-SSP Chowrasia bt Akbar Ali 5&4; 13-Digvijay Singh bt Ali Sher 2&1;
Suleman Ali bt Monish Bindra 3&2
FEATURE PRE-QUARTERS MATCHES: 6-Uttam Singh Mundy vs 11-SSP Chowrasia
(08:40); Amandeep Johl vs 15-Zai Kipgen (08:56); 5-Arjun Singh vs 12-Rafiq
Ali (08:16); 4-Vijay Kumar vs 13-Digvijay Singh (08:24)
Yesterday's report
Arjun Atwal crashes out
