Gritty Chinnappa stages thrilling comeback win

Local favourite Trishul Chinnappa lifted himself from a tight spot as he staged a stirring comeback to down third seed Harimohan Singh in their encounter in the Tata Steel All India Amateur Golf Championship at the Karnataka Golf Association on Friday.

Down by two strokes going into the last two holes, Chinnappa, who reached the semis of the match play format, reduced the deficit before taking the match into a play-off. He then exhibited superb driving skills followed by a routine putt from 3 feet to sink Harimohan, who had enjoyed the upper hand for the vast majority of the match.

After Harimohan took the early lead on the first hole, Chinnappa sank a clutch putt for par on the 17th before a birdie on the 18th. Harimohan had the chance to seal it but his putt hit the lip which sent the match into a play-off.

“I always believed I could make a comeback even being two down with two to go,” Chinnappa after the game. “Once I got an opening on the 17th, the guys cheering me on gave me even more belief to go for the kill.” 

Chinnappa’s next opponent is city-mate Rahul Ravi who beat HS Khang 4&3 in the round of 16 clash before a 2&1 victory over Jaibir Singh in the quarters. In what transpired to be a good day for Bangaloreans, a third, Syed Saqib Ahmed also made his way into the semis by downing Gurgaon’s Tapendra Ghai with a birdie on the first play-off hole in the quarters. Tapendra, who had enjoyed a fairy tale run which included a victory over top seed over Viraj Madappa, erred with his tee on the play-off shot which gifted victory to Syed.

Completing the semifinal line-up is Chandigarh’s Pukhraj Gill who beat Kushal Singh in the pre-quarters before following it up with an impressive victory over Tarak Swamy on the second play-off hole.

Results (all-quarters, prefix denotes seedings): 9-Syed Saqib Ahmed bt 16-Tapendra Ghai 19th; 20-Pukhraj Singh Gill bt 12-Tarak Swamy 20th; 31-Rahul Ravi bt 10-Jaibir Singh 2&1; 6-Trishul Chinnappa bt 3-Harimohan Singh 19th.