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Indian
golf on the upswing
Asian Indoor Athletics IN THE NEWS |
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A bunch of outstanding players have made India a force to reckon with on the greens. Trishna Bose profiles Indian Masters champion SSP Chowrasia, while
Donald Banerjee checks out the top names in the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit
He recently achieved what most Indian golfers would dream of, a win on the European PGA Tour. And what makes it all the more special is the way in which he accomplished it. In short, it was unassuming, casual and done in a basic fashion. Chowrasia’s game reflected the man that he is, one of the earth, and one who is so real. As we track
Chowrasia, or rather `Chip-putt-sia’ as he is referred to thanks to his short game, let’s just quickly recap the moments of the event. The Emaar-MGF Indian Masters, in its inaugural edition, boasted of players who have been regulars on the European PGA Tour, with South Africa’s Ernie Els leading the field. Golf lovers in the city thronged the Delhi Golf Club to catch glimpses of players like
Els, Darren Clarke, Mark O Meara, Thomas Bjorn and others. But needless to say, Indian stars like Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa were perhaps the biggest draws. As is the case in most golfing events, rounds one and two, set the field for the final crucial days. Going into the final day, it really was an open field. Chowrasia seemed nonplussed as he flashed his radiant smile and acknowledged the good wishes from the golf-loving crowd which had assembled there. Hats off to
Chowrasia, as he held his nerve and ended the final round with a score of nine-under with another birdie on the back nine. The closest contender, Ireland’s Damien
McGrane, would have to eagle the last to get into a playoff situation. But that was not to happen as Chowrasia was crowned the champion. At the prize distribution ceremony, his smile never left his face as Abhishek Bachchan handed over an Omega watch to him, or when the India Gate-shaped trophy was handed to him by Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit. That Chowrasia smile just stayed, and understandably so! It all seemed like a fairytale, that quintessential dream come true. Perhaps the only unfathomable element was the speech that Chowrasia gave at the end of the presentation. Unfathomable because a stocky man was telling him in his ear what to say. All very weird, for SSP can speak the national language with ease. An extempore thought-sharing from the winner instead would have been apt. A minor glitch in an otherwise spotless trophy handover moment!
— T.B.
A prominent Indian flavour is visible in the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, with six Indian golfers among the top 10 money earners after the just-concluded Astro Indonesian Open in Jakarta, where Chandigarh’s Jeev Milkha Singh missed the title by a whisker. The top three slots are occupied by SSP Chowrasia, Jeev and Digvijay Singh in that order. Chowrasia, the gardener’s son from Kolkata, remains firmly on top with earnings of $4,16,000 following his stunning victory at the Emaar-MGF Indian Masters in New Delhi recently. Jeev’s fine performance at Jakarta saw the 2006 Asian Tour number one climb to the second slot with earnings of $1,33,330 after finishing second in Indonesia. Occupying the third slot on the Order of Merit is Digvijay Singh who has so far raked in $1,15,500. Thailand’s Prom Meesawat moved to fourth place thanks to his third place result in Jakarta. With $81,060 in the bank this season, the burly Thai is ranked fourth. The other steady movers were Gaurav Ghei in fifth place on the money list while New Zealander Mark Brown is in sixth spot. After his performance on Sunday, Randhawa was ranked seventh and is a mere $220 ahead of Arjun Atwal, who is eighth. Among the other Indians on the Asian Tour, Shiv Kapur is placed 19th after the Jakarta Open with a money earnings of $22,240 from two outings. All these Indian golfers will feature in the $2.5 million Johnnie Walker Classic to be played at Gurgaon from February 28 to March 2. They will compete against several international stars, including world number five Adam Scott of Australia, No. 10 Vijay Singh of Fiji, England’s Ian Poulter and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie.
— D.B.
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Asian Indoor Athletics
India showed their continental supremacy by finishing atop the medal standings with five gold, nine silver and three bronze at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship in Doha last week. However, Indian athletes disappointingly fell short of the qualification marks for the Beijing Olympics. China were second with five gold, two silver and as many bronze, while Kazakhstan were third with four gold, six silver and four bronze. India’s middle-distance runner Sinimol Paulose bagged two gold (women’s 800m and 1,500m), while Preeja Sreedharan (women’s 3000m), PJ Vinod (men’s heptathlon) and the women’s 4x400m relay team won one gold each. The relay team comprised Mandeep Kaur, Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose and Chitra Soman. Anju Bobby George was tipped to win the gold in the long jump, but she had to be content with the silver with an effort of 6.38m, which was far below the qualification mark of 6.65m required for the World Indoor Athletics Championship to be held in Valencia (Spain) next month. Anju, however, had already qualified for the Beijing Olympics before the Doha event, along with triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, discus thrower Vikas Gowda and walker Babubhai Panocha. India’s other silver medallists at Doha were Sushma Devi (women’s 800m and 1,500m), Kavita Raut (women’s 3,000m), Surendra Singh (men’s 3,000m), Om Prakash (men’s shot put), Chatholi Hamza (men’s 1,500m), Amarjeet Singh (men’s triple jump) and the men’s 4x400m Leelavathi Veerappan (women’s 60m hurdles), Mandeep Kaur (women’s 400m) and M.A. Prajusha (women’s long jump) settled for a bronze apiece. Sinimol, 24, won the first gold for India in the women’s 1500m race with a championship record of 4 minutes, 15.42 seconds, erasing her own mark of 4:18.29 set in the last edition in Thailand, besides qualifying for the World Indoor Athletics Championship. In the 800m race, Sinimol, reigning Asian Indoor Games champion, beat Kazakhstan’s Matsko Margarita. She clocked 2 minutes, 3.43 seconds, while compatriot Sushma Devi overtook Matsko in the last 50 metres to finish second with a personal-best time of 2:04.66. Matsko had to settle for the third place clocking 2:04.85. The women’s relay team won the gold with a championship record of 3 minutes, 37.46 seconds. Kazakhstan finished second (3:38.10), while Thailand took the bronze (3:43.22). The men’s 4x400m relay team, comprising Thannickkal Aboobcker, Vinay Chaudhary, Gurvinder Pal Singh Bhullar and Virender Kumar Pankaj, won the silver with a timing of 3:16.53 in the last event of the championship. Saudi Arabia dominated the race from start to finish, winning in 3:14.25 to register the sixth championship record on the third and final day. Hosts Qatar finished third (3:17.93). In the men’s 3,000m, Surendra won the silver with a personal best of 7 minutes, 49.47 seconds — an improvement of more than 15 seconds to his indoor best. Om Prakash, participating in his maiden indoor competition, earned a silver — his first continental championship medal — in the men’s shot put with a throw of 18.37 metres, bettering the championship record. Kuwait’s Gholoum Ahmed won the gold with a throw of 18.55m. Yao Yong Guang of China took the bronze (18.16m). Heptathlete Vinod, the defending Asian Indoor Games champion, tallied the same number of points (5,561) he had garnered at the Macau event to clinch the yellow metal.
— Agencies |
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IN THE NEWS Tennis world number one Roger Federer plans to stay in the game for years to come. “My goal is to play for as long as possible, possibly until I am 35,” the 26-year-old Swiss told reporters in St Petersburg, Russia, after winning the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award for a record fourth year in a row. Federer, who has won 12 Grand Slam titles, said his aim was also to surpass Pete Sampras’ record of 14. “It’s definitely on my mind now,” he said. “Actually when I was playing Pete in an exhibition (late last year) we were joking about it. I was hoping to break his record this year but it looks a tough task now after losing the Australian Open. I think it would be a good result for me if I tie it this year.” Federer said he was hugely disappointed following his semifinal defeat to Novak Djokovic in Melbourne last month. “The first moment it hits you hard. You are really disappointed,” he said. “Then the next day when you wake up, you feel a bit better if you think that you had given your all. But I feel refreshed and relaxed now as I haven’t been practising at all,” he added. “It’s been a two-week vacation but I’ll start working out again shortly to get ready for the Dubai Open in early March.” Federer said winning the French Open was his other big goal. “Obviously, it’s a big goal for me. I hope it’s not the one that will elude me,” he said. Asked to name his main rivals, the world number one said: “Well, obviously two guys stand out, Djokovic and Nadal. But I rate Rafael Nadal as my biggest rival.” The Swiss also gave his backing to world number four Nikolay Davydenko, who is being investigated for his involvement into match-fixing — a charge the Russian has always denied. “It’s pure speculation, it’s not a fact,” Federer said when asked to comment on the problem. “Davydenko is not guilty. Honestly, I am not too worried about it (gambling in tennis).” Federer said it was unlikely he would play in the St Petersburg Open for as long as it clashed with another ATP event in his home town of Basel. “Maybe I could play Marat Safin in an exhibition here,” he said. “We’ve had some great battles in the past, so I think it would be fun playing him here.”
— Reuters
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Simplicity is so refreshing in an age where people hanker for stardom and larger-than-life characters. In Shiv Shankar Prasad
Chowrasia, the Indian Masters champion, you will find a rare breed. A kind of hero who has every reason to be put on a pedestal, but chooses to take life as it comes. 
