November 23, 2013. It was young Manu Gandas’s chance to prove his golfing brilliance, as he reserved the best for the last as he shot a blemish free 4-under par 68 in the final round to capture the IGU All India Junior Golf Championship title that culminated at the par-72 Oxford Golf and Country Club here on Friday. The Delhi lad finished the tournament with an impressive total of 10-under par 278 in the top category, four shots ahead of strong challenger Viraj Madappa who signed off with a 1-under par 71.
Feroz Singh Garewal finished a distant third at 287 while Piyush Sangwan was fourth at 291. Tapendra Ghai finished fifth at 296 while Shubham Narain was sixth at 297.
Karandeep Kochar won the title in Catgeory B with a four-day total of 304 with Kartik Sharma and Arjun Prasad sharing the bridesmaid’s position at 306. Pratheek Nagaprasad was fourth at 312 while Bhav Sharma was fifth at 315.
Manu who began the final round with a one-shot lead, played some flawless golf. Although he may have missed a couple of birdie opportunities, he did well to stay out of danger. After a par start, Manu fired his first birdie on the par-4 second and repeated the feat on the par-5 fourth and the tough par-4 sixth before taking the turn at 3-under. Viraj meanwhile did try to make a go of it when he fired three birdies on his front nine but ended up losing a shot as well which widened the lead to two shots after the first nine.
Manu maintained a clean slate while saving a stroke on the par-5 11th to finish the day at 4-under. Viraj who took the aggressive route met with mixed results. A double on the 11th and a bogey on the 13th seriously dented his chances of a comeback. Consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th only narrowed the lead but could not win him the title.
“I am elated,” said Manu after the victory. “I played to my game plan of keeping the ball in play. I sensed the victory on the 11th hole where I went ahead y five shots,” said the winner. “I am thankful to my parents who have supported me throughout my golf career,” said the 17-year-old.
Category A & B
278 Manu Gandas (73, 69, 68, 68); 282 Viraj Madappa (71, 70, 70, 71); 287 Feroz Singh Garewal (73, 72, 69, 73); 291 Piyush Sangwan (74, 71, 71, 75); 296 Tapendra Ghai (78, 74, 71, 73); 297 Shubham Narain (76, 73, 73, 75); 299 Varun Parikh (77, 75, 76, 71); 300 Rohan Dhole Patil (77, 74, 74, 75); 302 Jairaj Singh Sandhu (76, 74, 75, 77); 303 Viren Thapar (81, 76, 73, 73), Yuvraj Sandhu (73, 75, 78, 77)
Category B
304 Karandeep Kochar (78, 76, 76, 74); 306 Kartik Sharma (76, 79, 79, 72), Arjun Prasad (75, 75, 78, 78); 312 Pratheek Nagaprasad (78, 77, 78, 79); 315 Bhav Sharma (79, 79, 81, 76); 316 Shreyas Chandra (77, 80, 79, 80); 321 Karan Pratap Singh (78, 81, 85, 77); 322 Saarthak Chhibber (81, 78, 85, 78); 323 Udayjit Bhalotia (80, 79, 82, 82); 325 Arjun Puri (78, 83, 82, 82)
