Khalin Joshi and Amandeep Drall took the lead in the men’s and women’s sections respectively on the first day of the trials for the Asian Games golf event at the Calcutta Golf Club here on Tuesday. Khalin from Bengaluru carded a five-under 67 in the opening six holes with seven birdies and two bogeys, including five birdies. Ajitesh Sandhu shot a four-under 68 with five birdies and one bogey to move into second place. Asian Games 2010 team event silver medalist Rashid Khan, Olympian SSP Chaurasia, Aman Raj and Yuvraj Sandhu all shot three under-69s to be tied third.
Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Baisoya shot two-under 70s, while Karandeep Kochhar and S Chikkarangappa also managed one-under par with one-under 71. Of the 19 male players taking part in the trials, 10 scored under par on the first day. Among the women players, Amandeep Dral shot five consecutive birdies from the 12th to 16th holes to take the lead with a score of four-under 68. She made six birdies in the first round but also made two bogeys. Tokyo Olympian Diksha Dagar was tied for second with a three-under 69.
Tvesa Malik, Neha Tripathi, Pranavi Urs and Avani Prashant were tied for third with scores of two-under 70. Vani Kapoor also shot an under-par score of one-under 71. As many as 19 male and 19 female golfers are taking part in the trials to represent India in the Asian Games to be held in China in September-October this year.
