Sunit Chowrasia reaches final

Sunit Chowrasia reaches the final of the Tata Steel Amateur, setting up an intriguing clash against Viraj Madappa

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Sunit Chowrasia set up an intriguing final against Viraj Madappa

 

Edited by Anand Datla

 

Kolkata, November 22: Sunit Chowrasia took advantage of home conditions to record a stunning 5&4 victory over the top seed and in form Aman Raj of Patna in the semifinals of the Tata Steel Eastern India Amateur 2014. He set up an all Kolkata final against Viraj Madappa, here at the Par – 72 Royal Calcutta Golf Club.

 

Aman, who has been in rich vein of form recently, began with a par on the 1st hole which was squared. Sunit went 1 Up on the Par 3 2nd hole with a birdie and doubled the lead on the 4th with a birdie 4. With Aman on a par hitting spree it was a double bogey on the Par 4 6th hole which reduced the deficit to 1 Up in favour of the diminutive Sunit. A birdie from Aman squared the match by the 8th hole but a dropped stroke on the 9th hole meant Sunit was 1 Up at the turn. The top seed felt the pressure for the first time this week when the Sunit made another birdie on the 10th hole to go 2 Up and sensing a kill on the 12th hole sunk in a birdie 3. Aman clearly shaken, bogeyed the next two holes to hand Sunit a remarkable victory with four holes to go.

 

“It is my first shot at winning a title on the Tata Steel Amateur Tour and I’m very pleased it is at RCGC.” Said Sunit. He added, “My plan was to get ahead early to put pressure on a top player like Aman and it seemed to have worked.”

 

Viraj Madappa joined him in the 36 hole final to be played on the morrow with a quite stunning 7&6 victory of own over Col. Sanjay Lakra of the Indian Army in the other semifinal. It turned out to be a mismatch between the teenage predator and the veteran as Viraj was on fire from the word go. He won the first five holes with three birdies and two pars before losing his only hole when he made a bogey 5 on the 6th hole. He restored the lead with a birdie on the 7th hole and with Lakra clearly shaken, Viraj played to avoid mistakes and hit five consecutive pars to close out the match 7 Up and 6 holes to go.

 

Coming in to this week with a couple of victories under his belt on the junior and amateur tours, Viraj said “I’m feeling confident about my game following on from the previous two weeks.” He added, “After going 5 Up after five holes, it was all about avoiding bogeys thereafter. It is great to see Sunit winning his semifinal as we’ve known each other for a long time and it will be fun out there tomorrow.”

 

Results (Semi finals):

Sunit Chowrasia beat Aman Raj 5&4

Viraj Madappa beat Sanjay Lakra 7&6

 

Line Up (Final – 36 holes):

Sunit Chowrasia versus Viraj Madappa

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