Amit Dube stuns Arjun Singh

Amit Dube turned in a brilliant performance to upset fifth seed Arjun Singh and advance to the final of the Rs One million SRF All-India Matchplay championship, being played at the Delhi Golf Club, on Friday.

Dube will face veteran Shiv Prakash of Kanpur in the 36-hole final on Saturday. Shiv Prakash, who technically is the defending All-India Matchplay champion -- having won the Crompton Greaves-sponsored tournament in 1999, got the better of Dinesh Kumar by a similar margin - two holes with one to go.

Arjun and Dinesh will now clash for the 18-hole 3rd/4th place play-off.

"I never thought about winning," said Dube, who now has a chance to earn his first title on the Hero Honda Golf Tour. "I had just two aims - to find the fairways off the tee, and to take back my club slowly on the backswing. I used to be too fast on the backswing and while coming down, and my coach Kel Llewellyn repeatedly asked me to keep that swing thought in mind. It worked beautifully today," said the Noida-based golfer, who had three birdies and 14 pars in his 17 holes.

Both Arjun and Dube started with birdies and were all square till the third. On the fourth, Arjun made a three-putt for bogey and topped his bunker shot on the fifth after he was disturbed by a moving cameraman. But the Honda-Siel PGA champion showed nerves of steel and hit a peach of a tee shot on the par-3 seventh to be left with a two-feet birdie putt, and then birdied the par-5 eight after reaching the green with two super shots. However, a bogey from the left rough on the ninth saw him make the turn at one-down.

After Arjun made up the deficit with a birdie on the 12th, the match looked like going down to the wire as the players approached the 16th. However, Arjun's tee shot got stymied behind the fairway tree and he tried a low punch which he pulled into the bushes and conceded the hole. On the 17th, Dube dropped a 10-footer putt for birdie and finished the match.

"He obviously played well and made no errors. The holes I won were with birdies, and wherever I erred, he beat me. However, the 16th was the turning point. I could not play a hook shot around the tree as the ball was in a divot. It was unfortunate, but then that is golf," said Arjun after the round.

"I don't mind meeting anyone," said Dube, when asked about the final against the experienced Shiv. "It also doesn't matter whether it is a matchplay or a strokeplay. I prefer playing golf and that is exactly what I will do tomorrow," added Dube, who played for the fourth successive day with fever.

Shiv Prakash, looking for his second victory on the Hero Honda Golf Tour this season, lost the first hole to a birdie from Dinesh, but then came right back with a stupendous 25-feet birdie putt on the second. Dinesh helped his cause immensely by finding the dreaded DGC bushes on the fourth, ninth and 10th holes, thus losing all three. Shiv also made a good 10-footer birdie putt on the seventh.

"I did not play that well today, but was helped by Dinesh's problems off the tee," said Shiv after the round. "It really doesn't matter whether I meet a seeded or unseeded player in the final. In matchplay, what is more important is how well or how bad your opponent is playing on that particular day," he added.

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS (Seedings in prefix): Amit Dube bt 5-Arjun Singh 2-up; 7-Shiv Prakash bt Dinesh Kumar 2-up.

(Final match starts at 6:30 am in the morning. Afternoon session and 3rd/4th playoff at 11:30 am).

Yesterday's report
Arjun Singh pips Vijay Kumar in a thriller