Verma, Mane clinch title

Verma and Mane of India B completed the stipulated 36-hole of strokeplay with a total of 310 to garner a five-shot victory over India C's Samrath Dwivedi and Syed Saqib Ahmed.

India A team of Simarjeet Singh and Karan Taunk finished third at 317.

Chadha edged out Arjun Singh to win the individual title by a solitary shot after signing off with a level par card of 72 for a two-day total of 147.

Meanwhile, Ankur Chadha won in the individual section to be top-ranked in the match play, beginning tomorrow.

Amongst the 32 qualifiers from the strokeplay event who will vie for the title are Abul Tam (Malaysia), Vijitha Bandara (Sri Lanka), Tshendra Dorji (Bhutan) and Mohammad Sagoor (Bangladesh).

 

Three-time Sri Lankan Open Amateur champion Simarjeet Singh missed the cut.

Shubhankar Sharma was third at 149, while Karan Taunk who shot the day's best of 1-under 71 shared the fourth spot along with Viraj Madappa at 150.

Raghubir Chaudhary, Trishul Chinnappa and Abel Tam of Malaysia were tied for the fifth place at 152.

Chandigarh lad Chadha, who has already proved his potential not only on the amateur circuit but rubbed shoulders with top professionals, made a brilliant start shooting two birdies on the second and fourth and was two-under for the first five holes.

These were nullified with consecutive bogeys on the next two holes as he took the turn at level par for the round.

The back nine began on an ominous note with a bogey, while losing one more shot on the 14th.

Chadha made it back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th to reach home with a card of 72.

"I was confident of my game and was aiming to make pars as I did not want to take the risk against tough playing conditions," said Chadha after the round.

"The top seed status gives a comfortable feeling but you never know, match play is a different ball game," he added.

Arjun, after an eventful front nine where he was two-over with two birdies and four bogeys, made a solid charge in the back nine four birdies.

However, a double bogey on the finishing hole did him in.

Scores:

India B: 310 pts; Udayan Mane (75, 78) & Gagan Verma (76, 81);

India C: 315 pts; Samrath Dwivedi (79, 78) & Syed Saqib Ahmed (77, 81).

India A: 317 pts; Simarjeet Singh (82, 85) & Karan Taunk (79, 71).

Individual: 147 Ankur Chadha (75, 72); 148 Arjun Singh (75, 73); 149 Shubhankar Sharma (75, 74); 150 Karan Taunk (India - A) (79, 71), Viraj Madappa (78, 72); 152 Raghubir Chaudhary (78, 74), Trishul Chinnappa (76, 76), Abel Tam (Malaysia) (75, 77); 153 Udayan Mane (India - B) (75, 78); 154 Arshad Ali (78, 76); 155 SK Lakra (79, 76), Arjun Sharma (78, 77), Jasjeet Singh (75, 80); 156 Vikram Rana (79, 77), Hemendra Chaudhary (71, 85).