Thaindian News

Bangalore, March 9 (IANS) Eight times Asian tour winner Jyoti Randhawa beat top Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh to inspire DLF Gurgaon to a 3-0 win against Shubhkamna Noida in the Louis Philippe Cup golf tournament at the KGA course, here Friday.

In a first meeting between the two stalwart golfers in match-play competition, Randhawa won the match 3-up with two holes to go against Jeev, winner of 20 international titles and an European tour regular.

“It was great playing against Jeev. The intensity of the match was phenomenal. We both pushed ourselves to play our best and fortunately, I played solid enough to win without dropping a single shot to par in 15 holes,” said Randhawa.

With Randhawa registering an emphatic win over the legend, other members of the DLF Gurgaon team were inspired to perform.

Randhawa’s team-mate and brother in law Digvijay Singh won with a score of 1-up against Raju Ali in a play-off on 19th hole, while 2011 Singapore Open winner Himmat Rai completed the 3-0 whitewash by defeating Noida’s young talent Gaurav Pratap Singh 4-up with two holes to spare.

While the journey at Louis Philippe Cup has ended for Jeev, he was in a flamboyant mood. “I am disappointed that we lost. Jyoti putted better than me and that’s what cost me the game. Overall, the week has been excellent.

“The Louis Philippe Cup is an amazing format. A lot of people are going to come out and watch the sport played in this format. I am really glad I was here to be part of the inaugural edition of the event. This tournament also served as a great match practice as I haven’t been playing competitively for two weeks.”

Commenting further on the tournament, Jeev added: “The players should work together in promoting this tournament as the game is getting more popular day by day. I hope that this tournament will return stronger and better the following year with higher stakes.”

In other competitions, Puravankara Bangalore beat fancied TAKE Chennai. After the reigning SRF All India Match Play champion Manav Jaini lost his tie against seasoned campaigner SSP Chowrasia 3 and 2, Abhishek Jha levelled the score for Bangalore by winning his match 1-up against veteran Gaurav Ghei and Anirban Lahiri finished the job by beating hot favourite Anura Rohana with a 2-up margin.