23 August 2018: It was a debut to dream about. Aadil Bedi put on a brilliant show of golf and temperament, scoring a bogey-free 69 in the opening round of the Asian Games competition. The Chandigarh lad produced a spotless run, coasting through the front nine without a loss before turning the heat on during the return stretch.
Rayhan Thomas was also three under through 13 holes but bogeys at the 14th and 16th holes dropped him to 71 and T11 at the end of the day.
Kshitij Naveed Kaul settled for a 73 despite playing well, albeit in patches. The 17-year-old is in T18 with a 73 in the opening round. Kaul conceded a double bogey at the third and three other bogeys during a choppy round.
24-year-old Harimohan Singh made a good start – five straight pars and a birdie at . the sixth giving him a solid platform. But Hari conceded four bogeys and a double at the 8th in his five-over 77.
Aadil made birdies at the 11th to go under par for the first time on Thursday. The 17-year-old added birdies at the 17th and 18th to push himself into a tie for second with local hope Naraajie Emerald Ramadhan Putra, Ervin Chang and Hoyoung Choi.
Keita Nakajima is in the lead, the Japanese shooting four under 68 at the Pondok Indah Golf & Country Club. Nakajima shot five birdies during his round on Thursday.
Japan is in command of the team event after making a racy start. They were 8-under 208 for their team, with a five-stroke advantage over the Indian team. India is three under, one ahead of the Republic of Korea and two in front of Thailand.
On the women’s side, the three girls made a good start, but some late misses cost them, dear.
At 2-over 146, the Indian team of Diksha Dagar, Ridhima Dilawari and Sifat Sagoo are 10 strokes behind the leaders Japan. The Japanese are sitting pretty at 8-under 136, two ahead of China and six shots to the good against the Republic of Korea.
Diksha played some controlled golf, making the turn at two under, fuelled by birdies at the 6th and 7th holes. Bogeys at the twelfth and fourteenth threatened to derail her but a birdie at the 17th helped her sign off on a one-under card of 71.
Sifat Sagoo is lying 24th position after posting three over 75 on Thursday. Ridhima Dilawari is two strokes back at 77, lying in T27. Dilawari made four birdies but three bogeys and an equal amount of double bogeys.
