Kathmandu, 08-05-2013
Chikkarangappa sets the course on fire at Surya Nepal Masters 2013
Red was the colour of the day in the opening round of the Surya Nepal Masters Pvt. Ltd. 2013 as 56 under-par scores were recorded. Capitalising on excellent playing conditions at the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort, young S Chikkarangappa fired eight birdies and an eagle to sign a bogey-free card of 10-under par to end the day as the leader. In all as many as 64 players finished with a par or better score.
It was definitely the day of the youth brigade as Rashid Khan, Arshdeep Tiwana and Ajeetesh Sandhu - all shot an identical round of 7-under 65 to be three shots behind the leader. Nepal’s biggest hope and No.1 Shivaram Shrestha playing alongside the tournament favourite Anirban Lahiri shot a brilliant 6-under 66 to be tied for the fifth position along with Mohd. Sanju, Randhir Singh Ghotra and Shankar Das (all from India). Anirban was tied for the 12th position along with eight other players at 68. Defending champion Abhijit Singh Chadha, Harendra Gupta and Rafick Ali Mollah shared the ninth position at 5-under 67.
Chikkarangappa had dominated the amateur circuit winning almost all the junior and amateur titles that came his way before taking the plunge into the professional circuit. Playing in his rookie year as a professonal, Chikka as he is fondly called, today was in his best of elements. His ball striking was complimented by his putting as he hit all the 18 greens and reached two of the par-5s in two while making an eagle on one of them (12th).
Beginning from the first, Chikka opened with a birdie while making consecutive birdies on the third and fourth, narrowly missing an eagle on the former. With two more birdies on the 7th and 9th, the lad from Bangalore took the turn at 5-under and continued in the same vein on the back nine. A birdie on the tenth was followed by an eagle on the 12th. He saved one more stroke on the par-3 16th before signing off with yet another birdie.
“The playing conditions were excellent. Everything went right for me,” said the leader. “In these conditions, a three-stroke lead is healthy but one cannot be sure of a victory. I will try to build on it,” said the confident 21 year old.
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