Date:14/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/14/stories/2008031456762000.htm

Sport - Golf

Arjun Singh dethrones Ashok Kumar

Arjun to meet Bing in semifinal
Shamim sets up clash with Ali Sher

NEW DELHI: Arjun Singh stunned top seed and defending champion Ashok Kumar in a pulsating quarterfinal encounter in the SRF all-India match-play golf championship at the Delhi Golf Club course here on Thursday.

Arjun was one up against the defending champion by winning holes second, fourth, seventh, eighth, 13th, 16th and 18th. Arjun had earlier beaten Vijay Kumar in the pre-quarterfinals on the 20th hole.

“I think I played better in my quarterfinal than in the pre-quarters,” said Arjun. “I am very pleased with my performance but it is still a long way to go,” he added.

Arjun, seeded ninth, will meet the fifth-seeded Lam Chih Bing of Singapore in Friday’s semifinal. Chih Bing scored an easy 6 and 5 win over Manav Jaini in the quarterfinals after getting past Mukesh Kumar 3 and 2 in the previous round.

The other semifinal will pit seventh seed Shamim Khan against veteran Ali Sher. Khan beat Vivek Bhandari 2 and 1 in the pre-quarters and Naman Dawar in the next round at 5 and 4 while Ali Sher, former Indian Open winner, beat Harendra Gupta one up in the quarterfinals.

The results (pre-quarterfinals):

Ali Sher bt Muniyappa 3 and 2; Ashok Kumar bt R. Srinivas 2 up; Manav Jaini bt Uttam Singh Mundy 1 up; Naman Dawar bt Digvijay Singh 1 up; Harendra Gupta bt Sandeep Syal on 20th.