18 February 2004	Wednesday	26 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Feb 17: Captain of Indian golf team Jaideep Patwardhan said on Tuesday that he and members of his team were quite excited to be in Pakistan and to build on sporting relations between the two neighboring countries.

"We are delighted to be in Karachi and looking ahead to feature in Amateur Golf Championship of Pakistan," he said on his arrival with other three members of the team.

Besides India, Bangladesh, Iran, Sri Lanka and hosts Pakistan will be featuring in 43rd Amateur Golf Championship which tees-off at Arabian Sea Country Club (ASCC) from Thursday.

"We were playing against each other in various countries at the Asian level but were not playing in our own countries", he said. The last time an Indian golf team took part in a Pakistan event was seven years ago.

He said a Pakistan team recently visited India and participated in the All-India Amateur Golf Championship in Kolkata. "Revival of sporting relations will benefit both the countries," he added.

He expressed hope that Indian and Pakistan golfers can raise their standard by playing regularly and travelling to each other's country. "We speak the same language, eat same food and are culturally quite close so its great to play against each other," Jaideep maintained.

Jaideep said standard-wise Indians were rated among the top five at Asian level behind, China, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Japan. Commenting on the ASCC, Indian captain said they were yet to play on the course but it was pleasing to look around the surroundings.

He said Indian team will have their first practice session at the course on Thursday. The Indian team included their country's top-notch golfer Manav Das, Vikrant Chopra and Harinder Gupta.

President of Indian Golf Union K.N. Harsh, who was also scheduled to arrive with the team dropped out of the squad due to pressing engagements back home. Indian squad was accorded warm welcome on arrival at Quaid-i-Azam International Airport by officials of Pakistan Golf Federation, Sindh Golf Association and Arabian Sea Country Club. -APP