03-Feb-2012
The News
The News correspondent
KARACHI: Pakistan suffered a blow on Thursday when their reigning amateur champion Muhammad Ali Hai was forced to retire in the second round of the 2012 Bangladesh Amateur Golf Championship in Dhaka.
Ali, who won the Bangladesh crown in 2010 and was runner-up last year, made an unimpressive start to his title campaign with a first-round 76 and later retired from the event.
His teammate Muhammad Rehman remained the most successful player in the event from Pakistan when he followed his 74 with a score of 73 to take the seventh spot on the leaderboard.
Karachi youngster compensated for his first-round card of 86 with an impressive 73 in the second round to make the cut. Waseem Rana also improved his showing with a round 76. Meanwhile, India’s Manav Das continued his golden run in the competition when followed his first-round card of 69 with a 68 to consolidate his pole position on the leaderboard.
Manav’s excellent run has helped India to win the team event in the championship. Manav and Khalin Joshi emerged victorious in the team event after they aggregated 285 for two days to finish 10 strokes ahead of the Bangladesh A team, Sajib Ali and Dulal Hussain who were at 295.
Sri Lanka’s N Thangaraja and Vijita Bhandara also totalled 295 but lost on count back. Meanwhile, in the individual standing, Manav continued to blaze the Kurmitola Golf Club as he opened up a huge lead at the midway stage of the event.
The seasoned Indian golfer went one better than his first round card of 69 and shot 68 and he is now seven-under 137 for two rounds. The next best is Abdus Sobarhan (70-73), who is one-under, while the best official entry from Bangladesh, Md Nazim is another stoke behind after rounds of 73 and 71. Defending champion Khalin Joshi of India shot another 74 and is tied eighth at 148. |
