Khalin Joshi hunting for success at Bangladesh Open

Report issued by Asian Tour
February 07, 2016: Young Indian talent Khalin Joshi hopes to put his past experience at the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open to good use when the Asian Tour event gets underway next week.

The 23-year-old Indian, who finished tied-second in the last edition for his best result on the Asian Tour, is confident he can go one spot higher when he returns to the Kurmitola Golf Club.

Joshi will be among an elite 138-man field battling for honours at the US$300,000 Asian Tour event staged from February 10 to 13.

“I had a great experience last year and I learnt a lot. It gave me a lot of positive thoughts on my game and made me feel that I am capable of winning on the Asian Tour. I am looking forward to next week.

“I love playing on that course. It suits my eyes and it’s a fair test of all aspects of the game. It’s not a very long course. You need to keep the ball in play and hit as many fairways as you can. Putting has to be spot on too,” said Joshi.

Despite missing out on his Tour card by two rungs after finishing 65th on the 2015 Order of Merit, Joshi capped a relatively good season where he enjoyed a top-10 finish at the season-ending Philippine Open.

“Last year was a great learning year as I got to play most of the events on the Asian Tour. It was disappointing not to keep my card for 2016 but I took a lot of positives from the season and I hope to capitalise on them this year,” added the young Indian.

Homegrown hero and two-time Asian Tour winner Siddikur Rahman is relishing another opportunity to play on home soil as he bids to better his results from last year where he finished tied-38th.

“I didn’t enjoy a good outing last year but that’s a course which holds a lot of good memories for me. I just want to enjoy my game, my home crowd and the course next week. It’s always pressure playing in front of your home crowd as everybody expects the best from you but I feel more motivation than pressure,” said the 31-year-old.

“The weather is going to be much better this time around, compared to last year. It is winter in Bangladesh. There will be little chance of rain during the week and the course will be in good shape,” added Siddikur.

Other notable players to feature in the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open include defending champion Mardan Mamat of Singapore, reigning Asian Development Tour Order of Merit champion Casey O’Toole of the United States, as well as Thai veteran Thaworn Wiratchant and countryman Danthai Boonma.

With the Olympic Games looming in July where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open will be a good opportunity for players in the region to earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro with the Official World Golf Ranking points on offer.