Local boy Viraj Madappa kept the flag flying for the hosts after making short work of Malaysia’s Abel Tam 7 & 6 in the semi-final of the prestigious 112th Tata Steel Amateur golf championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
Madappa will face Delhi boy Shubhankar Sharma, who outplayed Arshad Ali 4 & 3 in the second semi-final on Saturday.
Tam has had a quiet start because of an upset stomach as the two opponents were all square at the end of two holes. But Madappa slowly picked up his game going 4-up on his opponent by the ninth and closed the match on 12th hole with a 7 & 6 win.
The other match between Sharma and Ali was much-closely fought with eight birdies which was shared between the two. Sharma fired birdies on the first two holes and while Arshad replied in the next two to get the score back to all square after four holes. But Sharma opened up a four-hole advantage at the end of 10 holes.
Sharma lost his focus a bit as Arshad pulled back the contest to 2-down after 13 holes but a birdie on the 15th from Sharma nailed the final spot for the Delhi golfer.
Madappa is now just a match away from being the youngest national champion in the history of Indian golf and is in with a chance of holding both the senior and junior titles at the same time.
The all India junior champion, who turned 15 recently, and moved into the ‘A’ category, will be up against the current Faldo Series India leg winner Sharma, just an year older than him.
While the final is being billed as a Kolkata versus Delhi clash, what augurs well for the sport in India is the emergence of new talent.
A local golfer in the final will ensure that the contest will be eagerly watched by the fans.