Coimbatore Open: Harshjeet Singh Sethie sets sight on defending title

The four-day event, with a prize purse of one crore rupees, features 126 golfers - 123 professionals and three amateurs.

Ashwin Chandran, Chairman and Managing Director, Prima World, defending champion Harshjeet Singh Sethie, last week’s winner Shaurya Binu and R. Gopinath, President, Coimbatore Golf Club, at the Coimbatore course ahead of the event.  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Around the same time last year, Delhi’s Harshjeet Singh Sethi stunned a strong field to clinch his maiden PGTI title here. With his confidence undiminished, the 22-year-old has set sight on a repeat feat in the second edition of the ‘KGiSL presents Coimbatore Open’ at the par-72 Coimbatore Golf Club (CGC) course unfolding on Wednesday.

The four-day event, with a prize purse of one crore rupees, features 126 golfers - 123 professionals and three amateurs. The other leading Indian professionals include Veer Ahlawat (TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader), Manu Gandas, Karandeep Kochhar, Chikkarangappa, Aman Raj and Shaurya Binu.

The local challenge will be led by Coimbatore-based professional Sidhartha Sharathram and amateur J Vignessh.

There are a good number of foreigners fighting for the top honour as well. Among them are N. Thangaraja and K. Prabagaran (Sri Lanka), Jamal Hossain and Badal Hossain (Bangladesh), Italy’s Michele Ortolani (Italy), Czechia’s Stepan Danek, Subash Tamang (Nepal), Sukhraj Singh Gill (Canada), Si In Kim (South Korea), Makoto Iwasaki (Japan) and American Dominic Piccirillo.

“A good monsoon and prevailing strong seasonal winds have made course conditions challenging. A few changes in the layout further enhances its testing nature,” said R. Gopinath, the CGC President.

“As we enter our third-year partnership with PGTI and the CGC, it’s truly remarkable to see the Coimbatore Open being recognized as a key event in the itinerary of the nation’s leading golfers,” said Prassadh Shanmugam, CEO of KGiSL.

“Prima Donna is delighted to support the PGTI Coimbatore Open for the second year running. I wish all participants the very best of luck in tackling the conditions and putting on a good show over this week,” said Ashwin Chandran, Chairman and Managing Director, Prima World.

“The CGC always produces a fascinating contest as the course and the windy conditions test the skills of the top Indian professionals. We look forward to yet another exciting week of golf,” said Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI.

The Pro-Am event will be staged on August 18.