India wins SAARC championship

New Delhi: India reasserted their supremacy as the golfing superpower of the region, drubbing Sri Lanka 3-0 to clinch the fifth SAARC Golf Championship trophy at the par-72 Delhi Golf Club. This was India's fifth consecutive victory and the fourth time that they beat Sri Lanka in the finals. Last year India beat Bangladesh when the tournament was played at the Classic Golf Resort. In the final, which was played on matchplay format, Jaideep Patwardhan was a 6&4 winner against N Amaraprathama while India's No 1 amateur Keshav Misra won 3&2 against JMD Indika Santha. The Best Individual Player of the Championship title was bagged by Harinder Gupta who was pushed to 19th hole before he beat a battling B G Lalitha Kumara. "Apart from a couple of three-putts, I played a solid round. I am happy to have played a role in India's victory, more so because I made it to the team at the last minute," said Patwardhan, who replaced Sandy Lehal in the team when the latter pulled out on personal grounds. Indika Santha gave a scare to Misra by winning the first two holes with birdies. But the Indian No 1 amateur pulled back and won the next five holes at a stretch before finishing the match on the 16th hole. (PTI)