Shubham, Ridhima to spearhead Indian challenge at Asia-Pacific golf

Shubham Narain and Ridhima Dilawari will spearhead the Indian challenge at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Junior Golf Championship which starts in Taiwan on Tuesday.

The Indian Golf Union has nominated two junior boys and girls teams for the 72-hole mixed gender team competition.

One team will comprise IGU Order of merit leaders of both boys and girls category in the form of 17-year-olds Shubham and Ridhima. The second team will include 16-year-old Karandeep Kochhar and 17-year-old Aditi Ashok who occupy the second spots in the IGU rankings in the boys' and girls' categories.

Delhi lad Shubham, who finished ninth at the Faldo Series Asia grand final at Mission Hills, China earlier this year is expected to be a strong contender.

He may expect good support from fellow Delhiite Ridhima who finished 12th at the Queen Sirikit Cup - Asia Pacific ladies team golf championship held at the Hong Kong Golf Club recently.

Aditi has also been in good form this year, claiming the Ladies British Amateur and St. Rule Trophy titles.

Kochhar - winner of the Albatross International Junior Championship last year- is still trying to get used to playing at the international level.

The tournament will see teams from 30 other countries from the Asia-Pacific region vie for top honours at the Hong Kong Golf Club.