Charminar Challenge’s Shubham Jaglan and Anshul Kabthiyal discuss strategy in their fourballs match against Rashid Khan and Angad Cheema of Kolkata at the Classic GCC on Monday.
By Rahul Banerji
Toppers Rajasthan Regals and UP Prometheans held firm in the standings after round four of the DP World PGTI’s 72 The League powered by IndusInd Bank on Monday.
After the penultimate series of matches of two singles, two fourballs and a foursome, the Regals had collected 39 points, with UP on 35.
Hyderabad’s Charminar Champions and Naya Raipur are at third place with 31 points, while Mumbai Aces (24) and Kolkata Classics (11) complete the rankings.
Tuesday’s final round of competition at the Classic Golf & Country Club promises to be a great affair, with all four teams battling it out for places in the final.
Rajasthan and UP started with 32 points on Monday, but the heavily favored Prometheans could take only three points from a resurgent Mumbai.
The Regals, on the other hand, won both their singles matches against Naya Raipur and then added a half as the in-form pair of Dhruv Sheoran and Chikkarangappa S held Jhared Hack and Stepan Danek to 39 points.
Top fight
Table toppers Rajasthan and UP will play against each other in the final round.
Nava Raipur and Charminar Champions are also well positioned to progress to the finals, with both now just four points behind the Prometheans.
Raipur had the upper hand in the other two matches, with DP World PGTI Tour Order of Merit leader Honey Baisoya making six birdies and an eagle in his first 12 holes of fourballs, playing alongside Amardeep Singh Malik.
They defeated K. Prabagaran and Michele Ortolani of the Regals 4 and 3.
Vikrant Chopra and Shivendra Singh Sisodia (Raipur) had the largest margin of victory of the day, 5&3 over Ayaan Gupta and Aryaman Mohan in the foursome.
Rajasthan captain Ajeetesh Sandhu, who won his singles match, said: “It would have been nice to get a bit more separation but it is always good to go into the final round as a leader.
“It just means we have to play another good round tomorrow to make sure we’re in the top two.
“Our hands get a bit tied in the final round because we have to play against players who have not played one of the three formats that are used.”
Baisoya said he and his captain Malik decided to take a unique approach before the round.
Mumbai Aces’ young Pritish Singh Karayat discusses a putt with caddy Sukhdev Singh on his way to a 2-up win over UP Prometheans’ Abhinav Lohan at the Classic course on Monday.
New challenge
“I told Hammer (Malik) on the first tee that I was playing match play against him in my mind and asked what he would shoot, and he said 7-under. I told him I would beat him at 10-under!
“Both Ortolani and Prabagaran played brilliantly, otherwise we could have won much earlier,” said Baisoya.
UP captain Bhattacharya drained a 20-foot birdie to take an early lead, then converted a critical 30-foot birdie on 16 to go 2-up against Mumbai captain Veer Ahlawat and maintained the lead after 17 holes.
“Not the day we wanted, but better now than a bad round tomorrow or in the final,” said Bhattacharya.
“I’m happy with how I played today and made some good, long putts. But tomorrow we have to play much better as a team against Rajasthan.”
With Chikka and Sheoran halving their match on Monday, Nava Raipur’s Ahlawat is now the only unbeaten man in the field. He was rested by Raipur on Monday.
In the incomplete opening round match on February 24, Mumbai Aces won the remaining hole for a half with Raipur in the fourballs due to darkness.
In the final round, besides the Rajasthan-UP match, Charminar Champions will take on Mumbai Aces while Raipur will take on bottom-placed Kolkata Classics.
Competition standings after round 4
Rajasthan Regals – 39 points
UP Prometheans – 35 points
Nava Raipur – 31 points
Charminar Champions – 31 points
Mumbai Aces – 24 points
Kolkata Classics – 11 points
Result round 4
Kolkata Classics lost 4-10 to Charminar Champions
Singles: Mithun Perera halved with N. Thangaraja; Ajay Baisoya defeated Vishesh Sharma 3&1.
Four-ball: Khalin Joshi/Viraj Madappa lost by 1 to Dominic Piccirillo/Omprakash Chouhan; Rashid Khan/Angad Cheema lost by 2 to Shubham Jaglan/Anshul Kabthiyal
Foursomes: Shankar Das/Mukesh Kumar lost to Manu Gandas/Anshul Patel 4&3
Rajasthan Regals halved Naya Raipur 7-7
Singles: Akshay Sharma defeated Mohd Azhar 3&2; Ajeetesh Sandhu defeated Joysurjo Dey 3 and 2
Four-ball: Chikkarangappa S./Dhruv Sheoran halved with Jhared Hack/Stepan Danek; K. Prabagaran/Michele Ortolani lost to Honey Baisoya/Amardeep Singh Malik 4&3
Foursomes: Ayaan Gupta/Aryaman Mohan lost to Vikrant Chopra/Shivendra Singh Sisodia 5&3
Mumbai Aces bt-UP Prometheans 12-3
Singles: Pritish Singh Karayat defeated Abhinav Lohan by 2; Jamal Hossain defeated Gaurav Pratap Singh 3&2
Four-ball: Kushal Singh/Saptak Talwarbeat Arjun Prasad/Manoj S. 3&2; Kartik Singh/Aniket Sawant beat Bikramjeet Singh Sandhu/Pranav Mardikar 4&3
Foursomes: Veer Ahlawat/Tapendra Ghai lost to Himmat Rai/Shaurya Bhattacharya 2&1
Tuesday’s games
Charminar Champions vs Mumbai Aces
Nava Raipur vs Kolkata Classics
Rajasthan Regals vs UP Prometheans
Also read: Prometheans and Regals set a high pace in 72 The League
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