Shubham Jaglan and Anshul Kabthiyal of Charminar Challenge talk strategy in their fourballs match against Kolkata’s Rashid Khan and Angad Cheema at the Classic GCC on Monday.
By Rahul Banerji
Table-toppers Rajasthan Regals and UP Prometheans held on in the standings after round four of the DP World PGTI’s 72 The League, powered by IndusInd Bank on Monday.
Following the penultimate set of matches of two singles, two fourballs and a foursome, the Regals had aggregated 39 points, with UP on 35.
Hyderabad’s Charminar Champions and Naya Raipur are tied for third on 31 points with Mumbai Aces (24) and Kolkata Classics (11) completing the table.
Tuesday’s final league round at the Classic Golf & Country Club promises to be a cracking affair with all the four sides in contention for places in the finals.
Rajasthan and UP started Monday on 32 points but the heavily-favoured Prometheans could only take three points off a resurgent Mumbai.
The Regals, on the other hand, won both their singles against Naya Raipur and then added a half when the in-form pair of Dhruv Sheoran and Chikkarangappa S. held Jhared Hack and Stepan Danek to reach 39 points.
Top battle
Table-toppers Rajasthan and UP will play each other in the final round of matches.
Nava Raipur and Charminar Champions are also well placed to push for the final, with both now just four points behind the Prometheans.
Raipur prevailed in the other two matches with DP World PGTI Tour Order of Merit leader Honey Baisoya making six birdies and an eagle in his first 12 holes of fourballs playing alongside Amardeep Singh Malik.
They beat the Regals’ K. Prabagaran and Michele Ortolani 4&3.
Vikrant Chopra and Shivendra Singh Sisodia (Raipur) had the day’s biggest victory margin, 5&3 over Ayaan Gupta and Aryaman Mohan in the foursomes.
Rajasthan captain Ajeetesh Sandhu, who won his singles, said: “It would have been nice to get a bit more separation, but it’s always good to go into the final round as a leader.
“It just means we will have to play another good round tomorrow to make sure we are in the top two.
“Our hands get a bit tied in the final round because we will have to play some players who haven’t played one of the three formats that are being used.”
Baisoya said he and his captain Malik decided to adopt a unique approach before the round.
Young Pritish Singh Karayat of Mumbai Aces discusses a putt with caddie Sukhdev Singh on his way to a 2-up win over Abhinav Lohan of UP Prometheans at the Classic course on Monday.
Novel challenge
“I told Hammer (Malik) on the first tee that in my mind I was playing a match play against him and asked what he would shoot, and he said 7-under. I told him I will beat him with a 10-under!
“Both Ortolani and Prabagaran played brilliantly, otherwise we could have won a lot earlier,” said Baisoya.
UP captain Bhattacharya drained a 20-footer for birdie to get ahead early, and then converted a critical 30-foot birdie on 16 to go 2-up against Mumbai captain Veer Ahlawat and maintained the difference after 17 holes.
“Not the day we wanted, but better now than having a bad round tomorrow, or in the final,” Bhattacharya said.
“I am happy how I played today and did make a few good, long putts. But we will have to play much better tomorrow against Rajasthan as a team.”
With Chikka and Sheoran halving their match on Monday, Ahlawat of Nava Raipur is now the only unbeaten man in the field. He was rested by Raipur on Monday.
In the incomplete match from the opening round on February 24 because of darkness, Mumbai Aces won the remaining hole for a half with Raipur in the fourballs.
In the final round besides the Rajasthan-UP match, Charminar Champions take on Mumbai Aces, while Raipur face bottom-placed Kolkata Classics.
League standings after round 4
Rajasthan Regals – 39 points
UP Prometheans – 35 points
Nava Raipur – 31 points
Charminar Champions – 31 points
Mumbai Aces – 24 points
Kolkata Classics – 11 points
Round 4 results
Kolkata Classics lost to Charminar Champions 4-10
Singles: Mithun Perera halved with N. Thangaraja; Ajay Baisoya beat Vishesh Sharma 3&1.
Fourballs: Khalin Joshi/Viraj Madappa lost to Dominic Piccirillo/Omprakash Chouhan 1-up; Rashid Khan/Angad Cheema lost to Shubham Jaglan/Anshul Kabthiyal 2-up
Foursomes: Shankar Das/Mukesh Kumar lost to Manu Gandas/Anshul Patel 4&3
Rajasthan Regals halved with Naya Raipur 7-7
Singles: Akshay Sharma beat Mohd Azhar 3&2; Ajeetesh Sandhu beat Joysurjo Dey 3&2
Fourballs: Chikkarangappa S./Dhruv Sheoran halved with Jhared Hack/Stepan Danek; K. Prabagaran/Michele Ortolani lost to Honey Baisoya/Amardeep Singh Malik 4&3
Foursomes: Ayaan Gupta/Aryaman Mohan lost to Vikrant Chopra/Shivendra Singh Sisodia 5&3
Mumbai Aces bt UP Prometheans 12-3
Singles: Pritish Singh Karayat beat Abhinav Lohan 2-up; Jamal Hossain beat Gaurav Pratap Singh 3&2
Fourballs: Kushal Singh/Saptak Talwarbeat Arjun Prasad/Manoj S. 3&2; Kartik Singh/Aniket Sawant beat Bikramjeet Singh Sandhu/Pranav Mardikar 4&3
Foursomes: Veer Ahlawat/Tapendra Ghai lost to Himmat Rai/Shaurya Bhattacharya 2&1
Tuesday’s fixtures
Charminar Champions v Mumbai Aces
Nava Raipur v Kolkata Classics
Rajasthan Regals v UP Prometheans
Also read: Prometheans, Regals are setting a hot pace in 72 The League
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