Nuh (Haryana), February 24 Kartik Singh provided a stunning start to '72 The League' when the Mumbai Aces teenager defeated the in-form American Jhared Hack of Nava Raipur at the 18th hole of a fascinating singles match, before halving his contest at the Classic Golf & Country Club on Tuesday.
The league is being played in a match-play format, where players compete hole-by-hole rather than by total strokes.
Singh, who recently turned 16, was 1-up after 15 holes before Hack pulled back with a birdie to level the match. The action on the 18th hole was intense, with good tee shots by both. Hack then hit his second shot on the par-5 18th to 12 feet, putting pressure on Singh.
However, Singh responded in wonderful fashion, hitting his second shot from 210 yards to 16 feet. He missed his eagle putt, but so did Hack, resulting in the hole being halved and the match ending all square with both teams earning points.
"Obviously, I would have liked to make the putt on the last hole and win, but I’m really happy that I was able to halve the match. It was a really tough match,” said Singh, who turned professional last year.
"He didn't really give me many chances to go up because he was playing very consistently today. I made six birdies, but it felt like every time I would make a birdie, he would do the same.
"I felt really proud that I was chosen by my team for the singles, because singles are the first ones to tee off and the first match definitely sets the pace for the day.”
Captain Ajeetesh Sandhu’s Rajasthan Regals had a fine start, ending the day unbeaten against the strong Kolkata Classics.
In the team-based format, each tie consists of singles, foursomes and fourball matches with points awarded for each result.
Rajasthan won both their singles matches and the foursomes, while Akshay Sharma and Jairaj Singh Sandhu held the strong pairing of Khalin Joshi and Angad Cheema to a tie in their fourball.
The foursomes was a good win for Regals, as Chikkarangappa S and Dhruv Sheoran beat Rashid Khan and Ajay Baisoya by 3&2, despite losing two of the first six holes.
Rajasthan’s K Prabagaran put up the first win in the history of 72 The League when he beat veteran Mukesh Kumar 5&4.
The Sri Lankan, winner of the 2006 All-India Amateur Championship, won the third and fourth holes with birdies and never looked back. That included a long, well-read 25-feet putt on the fourth.
The last match of the day, a fourball between Nava Raipur’s Shivendra Singh Sisodia and Mohammed Azhar against Tapendra Ghai and Kushal Singh of Mumbai Aces could not be finished because of darkness.
The two teams will return to the golf course on Monday, when the tournament comes back to this venue.
The second round of the league will be played on Tuesday at Jaypee Greens Golf Course in Noida. Rajasthan Regals will take on Charminar Champions, while the other two matches will be between Kolkata Classics and Mumbai Aces and UP Prometheans and Nava Raipur.
League standings after the 1st round:
Rajasthan Regals – 13 points
UP Prometheans – 8 points
Nava Raipur – 8 points*
Charminar Champions – 5 points
Mumbai Aces – 2 points*
Kolkata Classics – 1 point
(* denotes one unfinished fourball match, the result of which will be determined on Monday) .
