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A taste of
big time golf Shaky
Champions
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A taste
of big time golf
When more than 120 golfers from all over the country, including a host of youngsters, teed off on a wet Wednesday morning on the greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club on September 9, it was a clear indication of the popularity that this game has achieved among the teenagers, who are aspiring to take up golf as a profession. Men, women and girls and boys in all age-groups with colourful umbrellas braved the inclement weather to be part of the big-time golf that had returned to Chandigarh after a gap of 15 months. Consistent rain, however, forced the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) to reschedule the tournament to two rounds, scrapping the first two days’ play. But even the wet conditions could not dampen the spirits of the golfers and the spectators who thronged the greens to see the country’s golf icons in action. The prize money at stake was Rs 30 lakh. Chandigarh’s Amandeep Johl clinched the trophy eliminating Ashok Kumar in a playoff after the two had tied for the top slot after the two-day regulation play. Forty-year-old Johl, who pocketed the first prize cheque for Rs 4,84,950, was "very happy", but in the same breath he talked of hanging up his boots. Amandeep said, "This victory is very special for me because it is my first in a long time and it was achieved at my home course. I enjoyed playing at home in the wet conditions. It was a testing week due to the tough and challenging conditions. But I think my years of experience in professional golf helped me in tackling these conditions. The victory is all the more sweeter because I have not been practicing too much in recent months since I had taken a break from golf to fulfill some other responsibilities." Barring top-ranked Gaganjeet Bhullar of Kapurthala, who was playing in the Macau Open Asian Tour event, all the top golf professionals of the country, including Gaurav Ghei and Mukesh Kumar, took part in the PGTI Players Championship in Chandigarh. The prize money in domestic golf has gone up ever since the inception of the Professional Golf Tour of India in September, 2006. Starting with Rs 2 crore in 2006, the prize money has gone up by more than 250 per cent. This year the prize money at stake is a whopping Rs 7.5 crore. Giving this information at the Press briefing on the eve of the tournament, PGTI Director Padamjit Sandhu said "PGTI is happy playing at the Chandigarh Golf Club after 15 months. It is a testing venue, and some of India’s top players have played here and moved on to excel at the international stage. AIRCEL-PGTI is confident, this event will help consolidate discussions for bigger events in the future at the Chandigarh Golf Club." Formed by the players and for the players, the PGTI has golfer Uttam Singh Mundy as one of its Directors. Although he was tied 19th on the PGTI order of merit last year, Mundy has changed roles this year to promote golf and allow upcoming golfers to take part in tournaments. He said more than 300 pro golfers are members of the PGTI. The list includes the likes of Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Gaganjeet Bhullar. The PGTI has provided the platform to budding golfers turning pro to make a mark and earn money. "It is the comfort zone for many who do not wish to go in for Asian Tour competiton", said Mundy who shot a hole in one in Bangalore last year. Praising the owner Gautam Thapar, Mundy said he was a man of vision who had given a free hand to the board of directors, which included a number of top pro golfers to run the PGTI for the promotion of pro golf. Today the standard of golf has gone up tremendously. The quality of the players taking part in the tournament has improved and more and more youngsters are joining the bandwagon to have a strike at the prize money at stake. Mundy said acclimatization was very important for young golfers who fear to tread on foreign soil on the Asian Tour. The PGTI platform has roped in big sponsors. He was happy that despite the recession the tour had grown. In fact, the revival of the DDA Open and the Indian Oil Open were clear indications in this direction, added Mundy. As many as 54 of the 120 who teed off from the Chandigarh greens received cash prizes from the Rs 30-lakh booty. Five of them tying for that slot received almost Rs 10, 000 each. So there is money for all those who make the cut, said Mundy who ruled the pro circuit in the late 90s. His parting words were: "The tour is getting better. I see a bright light at the end of the tunnel".
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Shaky
Champions
As the Indian cricket team heads for South Africa for the Champions Trophy, an eight-nation elite tournament spread over two weeks starting from September 22, after their 46-run win over hosts Sri Lanka in the three-nation Compaq Cup which also featured New Zealand, there are many imponderables in the squad, which before the tour of Sri Lanka was looking at the number one spot in the one-day format. They did reach the top but were at the peak for barely 24 hours before the hosts pulled them down. The Champions Trophy, however, gives no time to any team to regain form as the games are played at a very hectic pace. India open their Group A campaign in the tournament, which they have won once along with Sri Lanka in 2002, with a match against archrivals Pakistan on September 26. Two days later they take on Australia and end their league fixtures with a match against West Indies on September 30. Hosts South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England make up Group B. The two top teams of each group will move into the knockout semi-finals. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan last year. But it had to be cancelled as teams like Australia, New Zealand and England expressed apprehensions about playing in the troubled country. After a lot of negotiations, Sri Lanka was about to be selected as the likely venue but due to the weather conditions there in the month of September the tournament finally shifted to South Africa. In the run-up to the tournament, India’s worries are many. Their opening pair is still undecided (never mind that the tried and tested Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid duo saved the team from the blushes in the final at Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium with a stand of 95 runs), their bowlers are giving away far too many runs (how close the Sri Lankans came to posing a challenge in Monday’s game) and the less said of their ground fielding, the better it will be. With the team missing out on the services of the Delhi buccaneer Virender Sehwag, who is still nursing an injured shoulder, one fervently hopes that his Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir (who returned home from Sri Lanka after sustaining a groin injury) will be able to join the squad in South Africa to beef up the team’s options for the openers’ slot because let us not forget that Rahul Dravid, who has returned to the team after a gap of nearly two years, was basically chosen for facing the opposition in the middle overs. The former Indian skipper is a man for all seasons but asking him to open would put further pressure on the lower down batsmen if he were to get out early. The other probable opener in the squad Dinesh Karthik, who opened the Indian innings in the first two games of the tri-series, could not do much in both outings and it was because of this that Dravid was drafted for the final game. Karthik has done fairly well as a lower order batsman and should be used for the task he is best suited for. In the absence of an injured Zaheer Khan India’s new ball attack of Asish Nehra and Ishant Sharma bowled well only in patches in the series. Nehra, who returned to international cricket after an injury hit layoff, took three for 24 in the first game against New Zealand, bowling just short of length and not allowing the batsmen to come on the front foot. The other two medium pace bowlers in the playing 11, Ishant Sharma and R.P. Singh, were among the wickets bowling with reasonable control but things came unstuck in the next league game against Sri Lanka. Asish Nehra gave away 62 runs in his nine-over spell in which he claimed just one wicket with the other bowlers proving just as ineffective. In the final also the new ball bowlers were not up to the task and it were the spinners, especially Harbhajan Singh, who pulled the game back for India. In South Africa the strips should help the fast and medium pace bowlers but then they would have to bowl much more intelligently and not just bowl short with no perceivable swing. For Asish Nehra in particular South Africa has very pleasant memories but he will have to deliver if he is to become the mainstay of the Indian bowling. The pitches should give something to the spinners as well given the good bounce in the strips. But much will depend how Harbhajan Singh will bowl. India’s fielding has been below par when compared to the other top ranked teams and in Sri Lanka, too, things did not look good. The players will have to pull up their groundwork by a couple of notches if they hope to leave a mark in South Africa. One of the things going in their favour is the fact that the players are familiar with the conditions in South Africa especially after IPL two was played in that country just a couple of months ago.
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Fit Zone Anyone who has travelled enough knows how painful it can be. At first the idea of travelling all over the world sounds glamorous. But for business travellers, the negative effects of travelling by air every few days become the worst part of life. One feels sluggish, sleep patterns are disturbed, diet goes upside down as one is having breakfast at 3 a.m on a flight! Travelling can throw one’s entire system out of gear. Unless you take care of yourself constantly, it will catch up on you and eventually lead to sickness.`A0 If we think of the very basic things that a man needs for good health it is fresh food, fresh air, fresh water and exercise. All of these four elements are missing when one is travelling. Neither do you eat fresh food as you are consuming packaged food in the flights. The air is stale as it is pressurised. You probably don’t drink enough water as you tend to consume either alcohol or soft drinks. And exercise is out of question on a flight and even when you are staying in a hotel for a short while. Here are a few tips and exercises to help you maintain your health even in these circumstances.`A0 n Avoid alcohol on the flight and instead drink plenty of water. n Don’t eat simply because your meal has arrived. Ask yourself if you are really hungry. n Whenever you get some free time, go to the gym or the swimming pool instead of watching TV. A swim will rejuvenate you instead of making you more sluggish. Even a massage will help you to unwind and relax. n While staying in a hotel eat plenty of fruits, salads and soups instead of fried foods and sweets. n Take time out to stretch your body and breathe deep when you are outside your room. Remember that the idea behind exercising is to move the joints and muscles of the body that would otherwise experience no movement.
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With
as much as Rs 7.5 crore in prize money this year, big time golf attracts
youngsters, writes Donald Banerjee after
the PGTI Players Championship in Chandigarh
A
Fit
Zone
Neck:
Stretch the neck by dropping the chin to the chest. Then rotate the head
in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions.