Young winners make an impact at the US Kids Golf Indian Championship

Some of the winners of the 2025 US Kids Indian Championship (from left) Nihal Cheema, Naaysha Sinha, Drona Singh Dhull, Aanya Dandriyal and Prince Bainsla. Image courtesy of USKGI.

By Rahul Banerji

Nihal Cheema, Drona Singh Dhull, Prince Bainsla, Naaysha S. Sinha, Gairat Kaur Kahlon and Shiksha Jain stood out in the fifth edition of the US Kids Golf Indian Championship that concluded at the Classic Golf and Country Club on Friday.

Despite difficult weather conditions and smog, NCR golfers captured a host of titles with solid showings in challenging conditions.

The final round for all sections was reduced to nine holes by the Tournament Committee as there was insufficient daylight due to a delayed start.

Nihal Cheema in the Boys 8 was the only player to score par or better on all three days as he emerged a runaway winner over nearest rival Zowra Sikand.

Chandigarh boy Cheema had cards of 36-34-33 in his 9-hole rounds. On the final day he was bogey-free with three birdies.

Another good player was Haryana golfer Drona Singh Dhull, who birdied four of the nine holes in the Boys 11 category.

He shot the best round of the day at 4-under 32 for nine holes with four birdies and no bogeys.

Bainsla, who had the best round of the week on the first day with a 6-under 66, won the Boys 15-18 ahead of Shashank Sachin Gadre, who parred all three days. Arshvant Srivastava came third.

Notable artists

Standout players in the girls’ events included Aanya Dandriyal (11-12 years) and Preitisha Kaur Gill (15-18 years).

Aanya and Malaysia’s Choi Quinn Cie were locked in a tight battle with a 45-hole total of 196 before the former won the tie-breaker after an eagle and birdie against four bogeys in regular rules.

Other outstanding performers of the week were Naaysha S. Sinha in Girls 8, Gairat Kaur Kahlon in Girls 9-10 and Shiksha Jain in Girls 13-14.

Among the boys, Taanush Kumar in Boys 9, Vedaansh Jain in Boys 10, Siddhant Sharma in Boys 12 and Arihaan Beri in Boys 13-14 stood out.

For the first time, finishers up to fifth place received a cash prize. The winners received Rs. 25,000, while the second and third places received Rs. 10,000 each and the next three places were rewarded with Rs. 5,000 each.

Cash incentives

“While the event has a priority status for leading performers, the idea of ​​cash prizes was to make it attractive to the golfers and the family,” said Rajesh Srivastava, president and founder of US Kids Golf India and Asia.

“We also plan to bring in foreign coaches and send children abroad for training.

“We are already in almost a dozen countries across Asia. We also welcome children from other countries to come to India.

“A year from now, we propose to hold Asian Championships for American children from all over Asia. The venue will be a championship track,” he added.

Dates for local Tours, which will likely have double the number of events in two halves of the season, will be announced later, as will the US Kids National Championships in several Asian countries.

Final results

(Play delay due to smog at the start resulted in a reduction of the final round to nine holes for all categories)

Boys

Age 7: 1. Keon Agarwal (42-41-43) 126; 2. Adir Singh Chawla (50-45-45) 140; 3. Aahaan Gautam (59-67-64) 190

Age 8: 1. Nihal Cheema (36-34-33) 103; .2. Zowra Sikand (41-41-39) 121; 3. Ahaan Chhita (SAF) (42-41-39) 123

Age 9: 1. Taanush Kumar (82-70-37) 189; 2. Samar Singh (76-84-36) 196; 3. Aryaan Mittal (80-80-37) 197

Age 10: 1. Vedaansh Jain (79-78-37) 194; 2. Ryan Advik (82-81-41) 204; 3. Ruslaan Alam Khan (84-84-41) 209

Age 11: 1. Drona Singh Dhull (73-70-32) 175; 2. Che Faidh Amsyar Faizul (Mal) (82-78-40) 200; 3. Aayan Chitta (SAF) (75-85-41) 201

Age 12: 1. Siddhant Sharma (78-69-35) 182; 2. Adit Veeramachaneni (75-74-34) 183; 3. Raja Muhammad Syakir Raja Mohd (Mal) (73-73-39) 185

Age 13-14: 1. Arihaan Beri (72-77-36) 185; 2. Devvrat Singh (78-81-38) 197; 3. Raajveer Surri (89-76-38) 203

Age 15-18: Prince Bainsla (66-73-36) 175; 2. Shashank Sachin Gadre (72-72-36) 180; 3. Arshvant Srivastava (71-75-38) 184

Girls

Age 8: 1. Naasyha S. Sinha (37-39-36) 112; 2. Taashi Jain (42-43-43) 128; 3. Abbakka Rawat Chettri (47-38-44) 129

Age 9-10: 1. Gairat Kaur Kahlon (75-74-39) 188; 2. Aadya Kaushal (75-78-38) 191; 3. Ahana Shah (81-78-39) 198

Age 11-12: 1. Aanya Dandriyal (81-77-38) 196 (won in tiebreak); 2. Choi Quinn Cie (Mal) (81-79-36) 196; T3. Aaliyah Kalra (84-81-37) and Aaradhaya Rawat (76-84-42) 202

Age 13-14: 1. Shiksha Jain (74-77-34) 185; T2. Shambhavi Chaturvedi (74-76-40) and Ridhima Singh (68-82-40) 190

Age 15-18: 1. Preitisha Kaur Gill (76-73-38) 187; 2. Kriti Parekh (78-79-37) 194; 3. Samaira Tomar (77-80-39) 196

Also read: Bainsla in the van as youngsters impress USKG Indian C’ship

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