Sport

Good show by Bhullar

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

GOOD DISPLAY: Gaganjeet Bhullar took the day’s honours at the Bilt Open golf tournament on Saturday.

GREATER NOIDA: Anirban Lahiri was in cracking form to stay ahead of the star competitors even as the third round could not be completed on the penultimate day of the Rs.80,00,000 BILT Open at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort here on Saturday.

Lahiri first shot a six-under 66 to emerge the leader with a total of 13-under 131 at the completion of the unfinished second round. He looked set to take the lead in the third round by collecting another four-under after 16 holes by the time play was suspended on the third day.

The rookie’s closest rival was Jeev Milkha Singh, whose six-under performance in the second round boosted him one place up with a total score of 11-under 133. With a three-under score with two more holes left in the third round, the seasoned pro was three shots behind Lahiri.

Gaganjeet Bhullar was the provisional leader after 38 of the 53 golfers, who made the cut at three-over, finished the penultimate round. The Chandigarh player shot his third consecutive four-under score — with birdies on fourth, ninth, 15th and 18th — to gather 12-under 204.

One shot behind him was former champion Jyoti Randhawa, who registered an 11-under 205. Randhawa had a mixed round in store as he hit six birdies — on second, fourth, 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th — but stumbled upon two bogeys — on 13th and 18th — to affect his chances.

However, the star of the day was Lahiri as he held his nerve in testing times to maintain his supremacy. On the second day, he had shown his big heart by choosing to carry on with a birdie putt even after the sound of siren and had succeeded. That propelled him on Saturday as he got three more birdies to end round two on a high.

The 21-year-old marched on smoothly in the next round by earning birdies on the first, fourth, fifth and sixth before going through a dramatic phase. On the par-three seventh hole, the Bangalore-based golfer met with a double bogey as a fly sat on the ball when he took the bogey shot. Lahiri threw the ball out of frustration but regained his composure to have two back-to-back birdies on eighth and ninth and then on the 15th.

“I had a lapse in concentration because of the fly, but I became normal soon after,” Lahiri said.

The last blot on his performance was dropping a shot on the 13th hole. About his comfort-level while playing on the course, Lahiri said, “I am familiar with the course. It is more familiar and similar to my home course Eagleton.”

Jeev had an eventful day as well. He resumed his back nine of the second round in style by shooting five birdies — on 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 18th — but bogeys on 15th and 16th played spoilsport. The third round was not so impressive for the ace golfer who missed a few birdie chances. Gaining a shot each on fourth, ninth, 12th and an eagle on the 15th kept him in contention while dropping a shot each on seventh and 13th did pull him down a bit.

The scores: Gaganjeet Bhullar 204 (68, 68, 68); Jyoti Randhawa 205 (68, 69, 68); Shiv Kapur 207 (68, 69, 70); C. Muniyappa 208 (69, 72, 67); Amandeep Johl 209 (72, 70, 67), Gurbaaz P.S. Mann 209 (70, 72, 67), Sujjan Singh 209 (69, 72, 68); Shamim Khan 210 (67, 73, 70); Gaurav Ghei 211 (68, 72, 71); Vikrant Chopra 212 (72, 69, 71).

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