KARACHI, Feb 22 Despite a poor round of three-over- par 75, Lalith Kumra from Sri Lanka was indeed lucky to grab the Mobilink 43rd Amateur golf championship of Pakistan which concluded at Arabian Sea Country Club on Sunday.
The 25-year-old from Colombo, who produced an excellent five-under-par round of 67 on Saturday, struggled in windy conditions at ASCC course, fairways and greens. The Sri Lankan golfer bogied in the last three rounds on hole, 16, 17 and 18th but still emerged onto the top with an aggregate of three-under 285.
After recently winning the All- India championship in Kolkata and the Bangladesh title in Dhaka, Lalith became the best amateur golfer of the sub-continent.
Lalith beat Indian Hariander Gupta by two strokes to win the championship. Hariander, showed consistent form on the first three days with rounds of 72, 70 and 73.
The Indians featuring in a Pakistan golf tournament after a lapse of seven years must be satisfied, taking three positions among top five. But on the final day, like the Lankan, Gupta failed to show any touch and with four-over-par round of 76, he secured the runner-up spot.
Vikrant Chopra who looked a strong title contender after three days with rounds of 68, 70 and 70, faltered in the last rounds to finish third with a total of 289.
Youthful Vaqas Ahmed also faded away after a top class performance with 68 and 70. His performance in the last two rounds of 75 and 78 was below par and had to be content with the fourth spot.
Haroon Kalhoon, having a five handicap, clinched the newly introduced Seniors contest with 154 after rounds of 76 and 78. Javed Khan, father of the country's leading golfer Shahid Javed, got the runner-up spot with scores of 76 and 80.
Mrs Jamila Jabbar retained her ladies title with a total of 184, having rounds of 86 and 90. Ms Saba Iqbal was runner-up. Pakistan Golf Federation (PGF) Chief Lt.Gen. (Retd) Muhammad Tariq won the net event with total of 141 and Tahir Karamat of Karachi Golf was second with 147.
Corps Commander Lt.Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hyat, distributed the prizes. Speaking at the ceremony the Indian captain Jaideep Ganpatrao praised the excellent hospitality extended to his team during their stay in Karachi.
Following are top six men Lalith Kumra (Sri Lanka) 73-70-67-75=285 Hariander Gupta (India) 72-69-72-74=287 Vikrant Chopra (India) 71-70-70-78=289 Vaqas Ahmed (Pak) 68-70-75-77=290 Manav Das (India) 73-74-71-72=290 Shahid Javed Khan (Pak) 72-70-73-76=291 Siddiq-ur-Rahman (Bangladesh) 75-72-71-75-293 Waseem Rana (DHA) 72-71-75-76-294 Tariq Mehmood (Pak) 73-70-75-77=295 K.Prabagran (Sri Lanka) 66-76-79-75-296 Jaideep Ganpatrao (India) 73-76-77-71-297. -APP
