In any team event, it is very rare for an individual effort to power them to a title. Going into the final round of the HP Asia-Pacific Junior Golf Championship, India too find themselves in a similar situation.
Although S. Chikkarangappa took the individual honours in the penultimate round at the Eagleton golf resort of Saturday, the Indian team, at one-over, were a staggering 13-strokes behind defending champions Thailand.
Chikka returned a card of two-under 70, Ashbeer Saini had a level par round, while Manu Gandas finished three-over 75 for the day.
The Thais, on the other ha-nd, returned three under-par cards with Pariwat Pinsawat the best at four-under 68.
With the chances of a title at home all but gone, the Indians will have to come up with an extraordinary display of golf to stop the Thai lads from retaining the title.
Local lad Chikkarangappa gave the Indians something to cheer about as he climbed back to the top of the leaderboard. Chikka will go into the final round with a three-stroke lead over his nearest rival Poom Saksansin of Thailand.
Overnight leader Teng Kao of Chinese Taipei, who shot a phenomenal eight-under in the third round, went through heart-wrenching moments as he injured his right leg midway through his round. Despite medical help, the discomfort was evident and he signed off with a card of three-over 75 to take the third spot.
In the boys’ D category Thailand’s golfing prodigy Puwit Anupansuebsai claimed the title with a staggering 31-stroke lead over his nearest competitor, India’s Karandeep Kochar.
Thai girls triumph
Led by Pavarisa Yoktuan’s four-under 68 in the final round, the Thailand team retained the RCGC Cup for girls, edging out overnight leaders Chinese Taipei by one stroke to complete a hat-trick of titles.
Pavarisa, who shot a three-under in the second round, consolidated her team’s position in the final round. Her effort also earned her the individual title in the A category. The Indian trio of Gurbani Singh, Shreya Ghei and Vani Kapoor, who started the day seven strokes behind Taipei, finished 11-strokes behind the champions.
Leading team scores
Boys: 636 (-12): Thailand; 649 (+1): India; 654 (+6): Chinese Taipei; 684 (+36): Philippines; 730 (+82): Hong Kong.
Girls: 431 (-1): Thailand; 432 (E): Chinese Taipei; 442 (+10): India; 446 (+14): Singapore; 456 (+24): Philippines.
Leading individual scores: Category A&B: Boys: 204: Chikkarangappa (66, 68, 70) (Ind); 207: Poom Saksansin (68, 68, 71) (Thai); 208: Teng Kao (69, 64, 75) (Taipei); 213: Wei-Hou Lu (70, 72, 71) (Taipei); 213: Ashbeer Saini (73, 68, 72) (Ind).; Girls: 213: Pavarisa Yoktuan (76, 69, 68) (Thai); 216: Jo-Ee Kok (70, 75, 71) (S'pore); 217: Hs-uan-Yu Yao (72, 75, 70) (Taipei).
Category B: Boys: 217: Pariwat Pinsawat (77, 72, 68) (Thai); 219: Nattawat Suvajanakorn (75, 74, 70) (Thai); 222: Sung-I Yu (74, 72, 76) (Taipei);228: Angelo Jose Gandionco (79, 76, 73) (Phi); 229: Marc Ong (78, 74, 77) (S'pore); Girls: 218: Princess Mary Superal (73, 74, 71) (Phi); 221: Pinrath Loomboonruang (75, 73, 73) (Thai); 226: Gurbani Singh (83, 71, 72) (Ind).
Category C: Boys: 224: Piyush Sangwan (72, 75, 77) (Ind); 226: Viraj Madappa (76, 78, 72) (Ind); 230: Feroz Garewal (77, 79, 74) (Ind); 230: Prakhar Asawa (78, 74, 78) (Ind); 233: Pawat Kongkanjana (75, 80, 78) (Thai); Girls: 222: Benyapa Niphatsophon (75, 76, 71) (Thai); 232: Aditi Ashok (80, 76, 76) (Ind); 249: Ridhima Dilawari (89, 80, 80) (Ind); 253: Seher Atwal (90, 82, 81) (Ind); 258: Amrita Anand (88, 89, 81) (Ind).
Category D: Boys: 213: Puwit Anupansuebsai (71, 71, 71) (Thai); 244: Karandeep Kochar (82, 86, 76) (Ind); 258: Kshitij Kaul (84, 87, 87) (Ind); 275: Aadil Bedi (91, 95, 89) (Ind); 280: Pratheek Nagaprasad (92, 95, 93) (Ind); Girls: 257: Chakansim Khamborn (87, 84, 86) (Thai); 313: Tanirika Singh (101, 108, 104) (Ind); 322: Shruthi Shenoy (104, 107, 111) (Ind); 327: Karishma Dutt (104, 120, 103) (Ind).