Gupta looks to retain title in Golconda Masters

Defending champion Harendra Gupta will look to retain his title when the second edition of the Golconda Masters Golf Championship begins at the Hyderabad Golf Club on Thursday.
The Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, today announced the second edition of the event which will carry a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh.
The tournament, which will be preceded by a Pro-Am event on tomorrow, was inaugurated today amidst much fanfare by Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana Mohammad Mahmood Ali.
The tournament will witness participation by 120 leading professional golfers from India and its neighboring countries as well as six local amateurs.

Top Indians in the fray include Shubhankar Sharma, Khalin Joshi, Udayan Mane, Rolex Ranking leader Feroz Ali Mollah, Mukesh Kumar, Shamim Khan, Shankar Das, and Abhijit Singh Chadha, to name a few.
The foreign challenge will be led by the Sri Lankan trio of Anura Rohana, N Thangaraja, K Prabagaran and Australian Kunal Bhasin.
Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGTI, said: "We are confident that the second edition of the Golconda Masters will replicate the grand success of the inaugural edition. The city of Hyderabad is fast emerging as an important centre for golf in India thus providing PGTI the ideal launch-pad for staging professional events such as the Golconda Masters in this sports-loving metropolis.