Vihaan Jain fired in fits and starts on a tough scoring day to extend his lead to four shots on the penultimate day of the IGU Southern India Junior Boys Golf Championship at the Coimbatore Golf Club on Thursday.
Vihaan shot a four-over 76 to take his 54-hole cumulative score to seven-over 223. Tamil Nadu’s Nilofer Sivamoorthy (76) was four behind, sitting two shots ahead of first-round leader Adhiraaj Singh Gill (76) and Vivaan Ubhayakar of Karnataka (76).
Vihaan, winner last week in Vizag, made his intentions pretty clear with birdies on the first two holes. Despite a dropped shot on the third, the 16-year-old drained a downhill 45-foot putt for a birdie on the fourth hole and nailed the pin with a wedge on the sixth for another birdie.
The blustery conditions forced him into errors. After a bogey on the fifth, he dropped six shots in four holes — double bogeys on the seventh and eighth, a three-putt bogey on the ninth, and a missed short putt for par on the 10th.
Playing partner Sivamoorthy, meanwhile, bridged the deficit to one shot with birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th holes. However, the Tamil Nadu golfer dropped three shots on the last three holes, allowing Vihaan to take a four-shot lead.
Elsewhere, Delhi’s Chaitanya Pandey (77) stayed six shots ahead of Order of Merit leader Jaibir Singh Kang (77) in Category ‘B’ (13-14 years).
Drona triumphs
Meanwhile, Drona Singh Dhull shot a five-over 77 on the final day for a runaway nine-shot victory in the 54-hole Category ‘C’ (11-12 years). Drona finished with a total of 21-over 237 for his second straight title. He also won last week in Vizag.
Karnataka’s Vivaan Singh (77) finished with a total of 30-over 246. Vivaan Shailesh Kudale of Maharashtra was a further stroke back in third place.
Leading scores (after 54 holes): Category ‘A’ (15-17 years): 223: Vihaan Jain (Har, 75, 72, 76); 227: Nilofer Sivamoorthy (TN, 77, 74, 76); 229: Adhiraaj Singh Gill (Pun, 74, 79, 76), Vivaan Ubhayakar (Kar, 77, 76, 76); 230: Zoravar Singh Toor (Har, 79, 77, 74).
Category ‘B’ (13-14): 231: Chaitanya Pandey (Del, 79, 75, 77); 237: Jaibir Singh Kang (83, 77, 77); 239: Saatvic Kumar Singh (Tel, 81, 78, 80); 243: Aditya Tewari (85, 78, 80); 246: Siddhant Sharma (Har, 82, 83, 81).
Category ‘C’ (11-12): 237: Drona Singh Dhull (Har, 83, 77, 77); 246: Vivaan Singh (Kar, 87, 82, 77); 248: Vivaan Shailesh Kudale (Mah, 89, 80, 79); 249: Shan Alvi (Del, 82, 86, 81); 255: Kabir Sachdev (Har, 88, 84, 83).
