Report by Anand Datla
August 26, 2015: India’s junior stars left themselves some work to do after ending the first day of the Asia Pacific Junior Championship outside the top ten. IGU order of merit leaders Shubham Narain and Ridhima Dilawari shot 2-under 70, lying in a tie for 12th after the mixed fourball round on Tuesday. Karandeep Kochhar and Aditi Ashok were in 17th position after scoring an even 72 in the first round at the Sunrise Golf & Country Club in Taiwan.
Intermittent fog and rain affected play on the first day, with play suspended for over an hour from the effects of a typhoon that swept the region over the weekend.
Ridhima from Delhi had the best effort among the four Indian golfers. The 17 year old shot two birdies on her march around the course. Shubham made two birdies too, but he also gave away two bogeys to drop back to even par on his card.
“It was a good round, but we could have holed more birdies to shoot a better score. Overall, both Shubham and I are happy with the way we played,” concluded Ridhima.
“I enjoyed playing with Ridhima as my partner,” said Shubham. “She was very consistent and was always there for par. She allowed me to be aggressive and comfortable throughout the day.”
Aditi had an impressive return too, going bogey free for 17 holes before signing off with a birdie at the 18th. The 17 year old though was aware that she and her partner could have been higher, but for missed opportunities.
“We played well today, but were unlucky on a few holes and couldn’t convert many birdies. But we have a good feeling so we should play better tomorrow,” said Aditi.
Karandeep, the baby of the pack at 16 years of age, began on a positive note before slipping away through the later stages of the round. He made a birdie on the first, but then made bogeys on the 9th and 17th holes to end the day at one over par.
The first day saw the Koreans take charge with a brilliant 7-under 65, setting up a high benchmark for the other young golfers to chase over the next two days. Guam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are the other countries in contention this week.
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