Golfer Chiragh trails Perera by a shot at Panasonic Open India
INDIA'S CHIRAGH KUMAR birdied four out of the final five holes to push ahead to the joint second place with a five-under 67, one stroke behind leader Mithun Perera after the first round of the $400,000 Panasonic Open India at the Delhi Golf Club in New Delhi on Thursday.
Chiragh, runner-up at the recent Macao Open last month, got birdies on the first, second, sixth, 14th, 15th along with a bogey on the par-three fifth for a 69 in his home course to share the spot with Supupramai Sattaya of Thailand.
Chiragh's career has been somewhat up and down. Part of the Indian team (others included Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar) that won the silver medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, he knows he has not fulfilled his potential.
But Chiragh, who recently became a father to a baby girl, confidently says,
"My best is yet to come."
He is yet to win at his home course -- his best being a runner-up finish in the 2011 Indian Open. In his search for a maiden win on the Asian Tour, he said he needs to continue the good work.
"Of course, I love the course and I know it well and it feels good to get a good start. It is my second home," he says with a laugh.
"But I need to play the same way for the next three days.
“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. It was nice to finish with a 10-foot birdie on the last hole. Actually all the birdies were good,” laughed Kumar.
Abhijit Chaddha was the next best Indian at fourth, who shared the spot with Thai duo of Thitiphun Chuayprakong and Thaworn Wiratchant, Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja and Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman on a 68.
S. Chikka, Khalin Joshi, Shankar Das and veteran Jyoti Randhawa shared the ninth place on 69.
Chikka got four birdies on the first, 11th, 12th and 16th holes against a bogey on the par-four sixth for an opening 69 that gave him a share of the third place alongside Sri Lankan Anura Ruhana and Niall Turner of Ireland.
The ever-smiling and bubbly Perera, who is aiming to become the first Sri Lankan to win on the Asian Tour title, fired seven birdies.
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.
Among others Indians in the fray, Deepinder Singh Kullar, Mukesh Kumar, Shubhankar Sharma, Rahil Gangjee, C. Munniyappa shared the 17th spot after scoring matching 70s.
Further one stroke behind at the 26th spot were Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rashid Khan, Vikrant Chopra, Digvijay Singh, Om Prakash Chouhan, Sujjan Singh, Abhishek Jha and Amardip Malik.
