Indian team wins Gaekwad Invitational Golf Tournament
Kathmandu, November 21
India won the title of the Gaekwad Invitational Golf Tournament here the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort on November 17-18.
The visiting team accumulated a total of 39 points in the friendly event played over two days, while Nepal earned 34.5 points. India took a slim lead of 1.5 points on the first day after scoring 19.5 points.
On Saturday, both India and Nepal won eight main matches out of 16 games. India won seven bye matches to post 19.5 points whereas Nepal won four bye matches for a total score of 18 points. The Indian pair of Rajiv Sangar and Arun Khanna was the best winning pair on the second day when they registered a 6&5 victory over Tashi Ghale and Jayendra Shah of Nepal.
The best winning pair on the opening day of the tournament was Nepal's captain Bhairaja Panday and Lt Gen KNS Thapa, who defeated Romi Malhotra and Inder Sharma of India on the 12th hole. The pair was 8-up with six holes remaining.
On the sideline of the match, eight women golfers took part in a 18-hole competition. Pratima Sherpa won with 36 points, while Arati Rana was runner-up with 34 points and Dr Rita Thapa was third with 29 points. In the guest category, Col Bikash Shah won with 36 points and Binay Raj Pandey finished second with 30 points.
Among the ambassadors, Thai Ambassador to Nepal, Bhakavat Tansul won the trophy with 33 points and Ambassador of Myanmar Thiri Pyanci U Tun Nay Lin came second with 15 points.
Bikash SJB Rana and Gaurav Shah won the closest-to-the-pin awards on first and second day respectively. Similarly Tashi Tshiring and Prthivi Malla won the longest drive awards and Pradeep Kumar Shrestha and Tamor Basnyat won the straightest drive titles.
