Gurgaon, Dec 17 (IANS) Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar showcased his best form as he defeated his citymate Zubin Nijawahan four and two on the first day of the match play segment of the 115th Amateur Golf Championship of India at the Classic Golf Resort here on Thursday.
Both Karandeep, age 16 and Zubin, 23, kept on challenging each other until the former hit a birdie on the 12th hole and went three up. Karandeep then kept the momentum to claim a memorable triumph after firing a birdie on the 16th hole.
Winner of Day Two strokeplay event here, Kochhar will be up against Shiv Naren Srinivasan on Friday.
Another highlight of the day was Sri Lankan Sisira Kumara, seeded 31st, upsetting Delhi’s Arjun Prasad one-up. Arjun was the runner-up of strokeplay championship.
The No. 1 amateur of the country, Aman Raj, edged past veteran Gagan Verma one-up to set up a meeting with Ankur Chadha. Kolkata sensation Viraj Madappa won the match over Harjot Singh Soni three and two to face Shubham Narain.
The leader of Day One of the stroke play event, Yashas Chandra, defeated Parav Kalra three and one and will meet experienced Simarjeet Singh on Friday.
A total of 16 players will play the second round of match play Friday morning followed by the quarter-finals. The tournament will conclude on December 20 with the 36-hole final.