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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 1
It was comparatively a less windy day today. And the sweltering heat had its impact on the country's top amateurs as they returned over par scores on the penultimate day of the LG Jaypee Open Amateur Golf Championship on the par-72 Jaypee Greens at Greater Noida.

IGU's No. 1 Manav Das of Ambala played a bad three-over front nine. But then he came back with a par back nine to fire a three over par 73 for a three-day aggregate of 219 to occupy the fifth slot.

Manav Das admitted that he was not consistent. His patchy display was the result of the change in swing, which he was hopeful of mastering in another couple of tournaments. "My putting and driving was not up to the mark, despite it being a comparatively less windy day," said the Ambala golfer.

Gagan Verma, who played two amazing 68, 68 rounds, was completely off-colour today as he played a miserable birdie-free five over par 77.

Yet he managed to hang on to the lead by a solitary stroke with a three-day total of 213.

Rahul Bajaj also played a four over par 76 to be one stroke behind the leader at 214.

It was only Karan Vasudeva who fired a perfect five-under par 67 to be in contention for the title at 216. Kapil Kumar and Manav Das were next in line at 218 and 219, respectively.

After making a steady start on the opening hole, where he made a par, Gagan made a bogey on the par-4 second. His four-feet par-putt kissed the lip and rolled out.

The lanky golfer thought that it was a freak incident but it was not to be as it happened on 10 more occasions during the round, four of which resulted in a bogey, interestingly one each on the last two holes of the front and back nine (8th, 9th, 17th and 18th).

"It was frustrating. The putts just did not fall," said the player from the IOCL, who hit 13 greens-in-regulation. "It was one of those days as I missed really short ones.

Else, I had a solid game with both my driving and approach," said Gagan, who vowed to come back into the game on the morrow.

Rahul Bajaj, meanwhile, managed a sole birdie on the par-5 third but lost his way from there making bogeys on the 4th, 5th, 10th, 11th and 18th to emerge as the strongest contender.

With five golfers within a margin of six strokes for the title, the final day tomorrow promises to be an exciting affair.

Scores
(after 54 holes): 213 Gagan Verma (68, 68, 77); 214 Rahul Bajaj (71, 67, 76); 216 Karan Vasudeva (76, 73, 67); 218 Kapil Kumar (70, 72, 76);219 Manav Das (75, 69, 75); 220 Gopal Singh (79, 70, 71), Arshdeep Tiwana (74, 73, 73), Moin Malak (72, 74, 74); 222 Amanjyot Singh (75, 74, 73), Saurabh Bahuguna (70, 78, 74); 223 Pritam Haridas (74, 75, 74) and Abhishek Jha (74, 73, 76).

Chandigarh, May 1
Manjeet Singh had never ever dreamt that one day he would represent the country in the Olympics and, that too, within four years after taking up the sport.

The rower from a small village of Punjab - Issa Panj Gurian (district Ferozepore) - is on cloud nine after qualifying in the double scull event for the Beijing Olympics.

He secured his Beijing ticket by clinching the second spot in the lightweight coxless pairs (LM2-) with his partner Devender Kumar Khandewal at the Pre-Olympic regatta held at Beijing, China, last week.

“Undoubtedly, it is just like a dream come true, but the biggest test is yet to come and I have to prepare for that,” said elated Manjeet, who got a warm welcome by office-bearers of the Rowing Federation of India (RFI), including T.C. Gupta, senior vice-president, Pramod Singla, joint secretary, Prof D.P. Singh, senior vice-president of the Chandigarh Rowing Federation, and his coach Arvind Sehgal at the local railway station.

“Despite the adverse wind conditions, we clocked 6 minutes 50 seconds to complete two-kilometer course, but we have to improve our timings if we are aiming at the Olympic medal,” said the 19-year-old rower, who is BA-I student of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26.

“I took up the sport in 2004 after I shifted to the city for studies. My cousin Lakshman Singh, who is a national rower, was my inspiration. I got selected for the 10th SAF Games-2006 held in Sri Lanka where I won the top honours,” said Manjeet.

He struck a silver in the 12th Junior Asian Championship at Singapore the same year. In the 12th Senior Asian Rowing Championship-2007 at South Korea, he bagged a silver and bronze.

Revealing his plan of action for the biggest sports extravaganza, Manjeet said he would attend a preparatory camp at Hyderabad in May. “After that, I would leave for Poland to participate in the World Cup. Then, I will fly to Shanghai to undergo training before leaving for Beijing,” said Manjeet.

Lauding Manjeet for his feat, T.C. Gupta and his coach Sehgal said, “The sport has been dominated by defence sportspersons. Manjeet is the first civilian rower, who has made it to the Olympics. His prospects for bringing an Olympic medal are the brightest.”

Chandigarh, May 1
The 18th Chandigarh State Carrom Championship began today at St Stephen's School, Sector 45, Chandigarh. The tournament was declared open by international hockey player and former coach of Indian hockey team Narendra Singh Sodhi. As many as 215 players under the senior, junior and sub-junior categories (boys and girls) are participating in the four-day tournament being organised by the Chandigarh Carrom Association.

Today’s results
Sub-junior boys (singles): Sakham b Nikhil Chopra 0-25, Arjun Thakur b Ravinder Singh 25-0, Natraj b Jaskaran 25-0, Bobby b Naveen 25-0, Akhil b Yuvraj 8-5, Ayush Hemdan b Prabh Verma 25-0, Ankush Taneja b Hardeep 25-3, Vipin b Anay Pujara 24-8, Puneet Jain b Lalit Garg 25-0, Ashoo b Kartik Malik 25-0, Vivak b Sahil Verma 25-6, Kehar Bansal b Sauria 25-0, Harshul b Jaskirt 25-0, Jatin Chaudhary b Jasdip Singh 25-0, Shhantanu Sharma b Sumit Talwar 25-0, Tasabar Ali b Gobind Dhamija 25-05, Himansu b Rahul Singh 25-0, Narang b Kanwardeep 25-0, Hari Bhanot b Bharat 25-0, Pardeep Singh b Yuvraj Batra 16-11.

Sub-junior girls (singles): Tasashikha Dawan b Ashmitra Chaudhary 11-7, Gujan Arora b Gurkiran Kaur 25-1, Prachi b Amanjot 19-14, Ayushi Sharma b Harlin 25-19, Himanshi b Deepti Bhatia 25-0, Gulshan b Pallawi 25-0.

Junior girls (singles): Amanjot b Aushi 22-6, Samridhi b Tannia 25-6, Gulshan b Gulkiran 25-0, Harlin b Guari Bhatia 13-05, Tuba b Sifali 25-0, Anjali b Gunjan Arora 25-0, Anusha Sharma b Harjot Kaur 25-18, Preeti b Uppali 23-16, Kudrat b Jasmin 25-0 and Harshpreet b Harlin.

Women’s singles: Bhanujain b Kamlesh Batra 25-0, 25-0, Surbhi b Jasmin 25-0, 25-0.

Junior boys (singles): Gobind Dhanja b Sursangam 25-0, 25-0, Keshav Bansal b Rishu Chopra 25-0, 25-14, Tasbbar Ali b Preet Aluwalia 25-0, 25-0 and Ankush Taneja b Gurjinder Singh 25-0, 25-0.