Capt’s 18, Chandigarh Gladiators storm into golf league quarters

Defending champions Captain’s 18, along with Chandigarh Gladiators, moved into the quarterfinals of the Chandigarh Golf League being played at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

Captain’s 18 blanked Fairway Comets 7-0, while Jubilee Chandigarh Gladiators beat the Green Gators 4.5-2.5. Golf Ninjas managed to beat Punjab Aces in a tight contest after a three-hole playoff and Cee Dee The Mulligans pipped Netsmartz Tigers 4-3 to become the teams which have reached the quarterfinals.

Captain’s 18 saw their singles games won by Padamjit Sandhu 6&4 and Randeep Singh 4&2. With the Comets putting the onus on their four-ball pairs, it became an uphill task for them having to win four out of five games. Kanwal Bajwa and Pukhraj Singh Brar put up the third point quickly with a 7&5 win, while Indervir Singh Atwal and Brig KJS Puri sealed the match with a 4&3 win.

The Golf Ninjas, playing after a week’s break, faced off higher seed Aces and the match went neck and neck all the way through. No team had a clear advantage at any stage and when the pressure mounted, a missed putt caused the match to go into a three hole playoff. The singles were split with Girish Virk and Rupinder Singh winning 4&2 respectively.

The four-ball games went two a piece, courtesy Balpreet Ghuman and Shiv Sekhon’s 4&2 win for the Aces and Vikram Bhagwan and Dalip Kang’s 4&3 win for the Ninjas. With the Ninjas leading in the second four-ball game, they missed a crucial putt to close the match. The playoff saw Girish Virk and Amarinder Bindra square off against Balpreet Ghuman and Rupinder Singh. After squaring the first hole, Ninjas won the second and halved the third to prevail in the tight contest they led down the stretch.

The Gators faced the Gladiators wall for the second consecutive match day and had no answers in the singles games. Col SDS Batth and Col Narjit Singh won their games comfortably 4&3 and 5&4, respectively. Once Dalbir Randhawa and Harjeet Singh along with Col VP Singh and Lt Gen BS Sachar pair put the points on the board, the Gladiators knew they were going to face the Hunting Hawks in the quarterfinal.

Mulligans edged past the Netsmartz Tigers by winning their singles. Angad Sangha and Bismad Singh put up the first two points, which were matched by the Tigers pairs Sangram Singh-Jaswant Khaira and Varun Rao-Akshay Verma. Two other games were split either side of Amrinder Singh & Jaskeerat Kaur Matharoo’s 1-Up win on the final hole.