Dhaka, Bangladesh, 01-02-2017
Shubhankar Sharma is joint first round leader in Bangladesh after a masterly 64
Chiragh Kumar lies fifth, Khalin Joshi in tied sixth
Young Indian Shubhankar Sharma rode on his recent run of good form to sign for a superb seven-under-64, grabbing a share of the opening round lead with Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand at the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old Indian, who finished third on his own in the last edition, fired nine birdies against two bogeys to lead by two shots alongside 21-year-old Jazz, who was equally impressive with one eagle and six birdies against a bogey, at the Kurmitola Golf Club.
Panuphol Pittayarat of Thailand carded a 66 to sit in third place.
Buoyed by his tied-11th and tied-ninth finishes in Singapore and Myanmar respectively over the last two weeks, Shubhankar, placed 10th on the current Order of Merit, hopes to ride high on his confidence and push for a breakthrough win this week.
Shubhankar’s third place finish in the last edition was his best result on the Asian Tour since joining the play-for-pay ranks in 2013.
Sharma said, “I am very happy with the round. I just hung in there and made all the crucial putts. I hit it pretty close for all the birdies I made today.
“Everything was good for me today. The shots that I missed, I didn’t missed by much. It could have been better. I have been playing well. I am just riding on my good form. I was hoping to get a good start to the week and I did.
“I just wanted to keep playing the way I have been playing. I am feeling confident with my game but I am not really thinking about winning yet. I am happy with my position right now. I will keep things the same tomorrow.
“I will try to play the way I did today. I have to keep grinding out there. I think that is very crucial. Even if I missed the green, I have to scramble well. I have been putting well. I will keep up the good work.”
Chiragh Kumar shot a three-under-68 to be fifth while Khalin Joshi was a further shot back in tied sixth and made it three Indians in the top-10.
Mukesh Kumar and Honey Baisoya fired matching 70s to be tied 15th and Udayan Mane’s 71 placed him tied 29th.
Among the other Indians in the field, Sujjan Singh (72) was in tied 46th, Ajeetesh Sandhu (73), Kapil Kumar (63) and Rashid Khan (73) were all in tied 60th, Jeev Milkha Singh (74) and M Dharma (74) were both in tied 76th, C Muniyappa (76) was tied 103rd and Arjun Prasad (77) was tied 113th.
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