New Delhi, 05-11-2015

Perera takes the honours in round 1, Chiragh in tied second at Panasonic Open India 2015

Six Indians in top-10 also include Chadha, Chikka, Joshi, Das & Randhawa

PGTI members Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka and India's Chiragh Kumar hogged the limelight in round one of the fifth edition of the US$400,000 Panasonic Open India on Thursday. While Perera brought home the day's best card of six-under-66 to take the lead, Delhi boy Chiragh posted a five-under-67 at his home course to be tied second along with Sattaya Supupramai of Thailand.

Mithun Perera, who has five wins on the PGTI, but none on the Asian Tour, led a Sri Lankan quartet, all of whom are in the Top-10, while there are six Indians in the Top-16 including Chiragh in second, Abhijit Chadha (68) in  tied fourth and four others, Chikkarangappa, winner of a second ADT title last week, Khalin Joshi, runner-up at the Bangladesh Open this year, Shankar Das, the reigning Rolex Ranking champion, and veteran eight-time winner on Asian Tour Jyoti Randhawa, shared the ninth place at 69.

Keeping touch with this group of six Indians and four Lankans, was PGTI member Siddikur Rahman (68) of Bangladesh, who ranks DGC as one of his favourite venues, having recorded innumerable top-10s here besides one of his two Asian Tour wins here.

Perera birdied four of his closing five holes to take the lead in the opening round at six-under-66 on Thursday. The ever-smiling and bubbly Sri Lankan, who is aiming to become the first Sri Lankan to win on the Asian Tour, fired seven birdies to hold a one-shot advantage over an in-form Chiragh Kumar and Sattaya Supupramai of Thailand.

Perera, who lost in a three-way play-off in this event last year, turned in 34 highlighted by two opening birdies from close range. He enjoyed a late flourish with birdies on holes 14, 15, 17 and 18 to grab the outright lead.

“It is nice to start with two gimmie birdies. That gave me a lot of confidence,” said Perera, who holed 24 putts today. “I kept the ball in play and that's the key to a good score here.”

The 28-year-old, added, “I had a good round because my driver worked and I holed some good putts. I'll try and keep to this rhythm in the next three rounds. I always have good confidence when I'm here because of my accuracy,” said Perera. “I played the regulation game. That's the key on this course. I tried to play my ball on the fairway and green and that helped me to a good score. You need to keep the ball in play to stay out of trouble here.”

Chiragh, playing on his home turf at the DGC, launched his title bid by shooting six birdies to continue his good form after finishing tied second at the Macau Open three weeks ago.

“I got off to a good start with three straight birdies and that gave me some momentum. I made some good putts and could have holed a few more. The 40-footer for birdie on the second was special. It was nice to finish with a 10-foot birdie on the last hole. Actually all the birdies were good,” laughed Kumar.

Bangladeshi Siddikur was even-par at the turn but four birdies on his homeward nine including a curling birdie on 18 kept him within striking distance of the lead.

“It wasn't a bad start! I enjoyed my day. The fairways are soft so it is playing slightly longer but I made some good putts and that helped. It is nice to see Mithun leading. I think all the accurate players will do well here,” said Siddikur, a two-time Asian Tour winner. 

PGTI member N Thangaraja of Sri Lanka was the joint leader after the morning session courtesy his card of four-under-68. Thangaraja fired seven birdies against three bogeys.

 

Scores after round 1 of the Panasonic Open India 2015 being played at the par 72, 6983 Yards Delhi GC course (am - denotes amateur):

66 - Mithun PERERA (SRI)

67 - Chiragh KUMAR (IND), Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA).

68 - Thitiphun CHUAYPRAKONG (THA), N. THANGARAJA (SRI), Siddikur RAHMAN (BAN), Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA), Abhijit CHADHA (IND).

69 - Anura ROHANA (SRI), Niall TURNER (IRL), Chikka S. (IND), Shankar DAS (IND), Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND), K. PRABAGARAN (SRI), Khalin JOSHI (IND), George GANDRANATA (INA).

70 - Deepinder Singh KULLAR (IND), Mukesh KUMAR (IND), James BYRNE (SCO), Shubhankar SHARMA (IND), Rahil GANGJEE (IND), C. MUNIYAPPA (IND), Sanjay KUMAR (IND), Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA), Pawin INGKHAPRADIT (THA).

71 - Zamal MOLLAH (BAN), Abhishek JHA (IND), Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND), Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA), Niall KEARNEY (IRL), Vikrant CHOPRA (IND), Sujjan SINGH (IND), Amardip MALIK (IND), Digvijay SINGH (IND), Rashid KHAN (IND), Om Prakash CHOUHAN (IND), Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE).