Proving their mettle

India’s Aditi Ashok (left) with the trophy after winning the girls title at the Asia Pacific Junior Amateur Golf Championship. Suradit Yongcharoenchai of Thailand won the boys title.-PTI India’s Aditi Ashok (left) with the trophy after winning the girls title at the Asia Pacific Junior Amateur Golf Championship. Suradit Yongcharoenchai of Thailand won the boys title.

India’s rapid progress in international golf was evident once again with its talented youngsters winning both the team titles, apart from an individual crown.

Four juniors teamed up to give India its first ever title in the Asia Pacific Junior Golf Championship, which was held at the oldest golf course in the world outside the British Isles, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.

Manu Gandhas (Delhi) and Viraj Madappa (Kolkata) formed the India ‘A’ boys team that outclassed outfits such as Thailand, the defending champion, and a strong Chinese Taipei to lift the crown in the junior tournament that came into the Asia Pacific Golf Council fold for the first time.

Aditi Ashok (Bangalore) and Ridhima Dilawari (Delhi), representing India ‘B’, emulated their male compatriots to win the girls’ crown.

With seven nations in the fray this year, the tournament was closely fought. India’s rapid progress in international golf was evident once again, with its talented youngsters winning both the team titles. Both Manu and Viraj attributed their success to a busy calendar that helped them with good “match practice” all through the season.

Aditi, who has won a host of amateur golf titles, impressed with her consistency and emerged the best player in the individual category following a thrilling play-off that saw her win a double.

Amitabha Das Sharma* * *THE RESULTSTeam championship

Boys — 586: India ‘A’ (Manu Gandas & Viraj Madappa); 594: Thailand ‘B’ (Ekthumrong Luanganuruk & Suradit Yongcharoenchai); 595: Chinese Taipei ‘A’ (Sung I Yu & Chun An Yu).

Girls — 442: India ‘B’ (Ridhima Dilawari & Aditi Ashok); 446: Chinese Taipei ‘A’ (Yu-Hsin Chang & Min-Jou Chen); 452: Chinese Taipei ‘B’ (Hsin-En Tsai & Cih-Hui Chen).

Individual championship

Boys — 287: Suradit Yongcharoenchai (Thailand) 74, 70, 72, 71; 293: Manu Gandas (India) 73, 75, 75, 70; Viraj Madappa (India) 73, 73, 73, 74.

Girls — 217: Aditi Ashok (India) 75, 69, 73, Min-Jou Chen 72, 73, 72; 218: Gurbani Singh (India) 73, 72, 73; 222: Cih-Hui Chen (Chinese Taipei) 76, 70, 76.