Viraj on threshold of victory at Junior Golf Championship

Young Viraj Madappa is all set to bag the IGU Rajasthan Junior Golf Championship title after widening his lead to 11 strokes at the end of the third round of the event at the Rambagh Golf Club here today.
Despite a 1-over par 71, the Kolkata lad was 7-under 203 for the tournament.
With the fight virtually being reduced for minor placing, Manu Gandas was placed second at 214 while Tapendra Ghai was third, just a stroke behind Manu.
Shubham Narain was in the fourth position at 217.
Yuvraj Sandhu, Pukhraj Singh Gill and Prakhar Asawa were tied for the fifth position at 219.

Viraj, armed with an eight shot lead, ventured into the third round on a confident note.

But soon he was in trouble incurring a bogey on the par-4 third.
However, the 15-year-old played some steady golf and made back to back birdies on the seventh and eighth before making a double on the ninth.
An aggressive approach on his back nine saw him gain mixed results with a bogey on the 11th and a birdie on the 14th which was followed by a double bogey on the 15th.
Successive birdies on the next two holes ensured that he returned home with just a shot over the par.

"The way I am playing, I am confident of a victory. I do not want to be complacent despite a huge lead," said Viraj.
"Actually I thought of taking it hole by hole and then if need be try and attack. I admit that the strategy was not too successful as I lost some shots which could have been avoided," added the leader.
Top scores after 54 holes (Cat A & B) 203 Viraj Madappa (62, 70, 71); 214 Manu Gandas (68, 72, 74); 215 Tapendra Ghai (75, 68, 72); 217 Shubham Narain (68, 73, 76); 219 Yuvraj Sandhu (72, 73, 74), Prakhar Asawa (73, 71, 75), Pukhraj Singh Gill (68, 75, 76); 221 Mohan Sardar (73, 73, 75), Kartik Sharma (Cat B) (74, 73, 74); 222 Feroz Singh Garewal (76, 73, 73), Arjun Prasad (Cat B) (69, 80, 73).