Star performers – From left clockwise – Adit Veeramachaneni, Nihal Cheema, Ranveer Singh Dhupia, Mahreen Bhatia, Naina Kapoor and Kriti Parekh at the US Kids Golf Leg 6. Pic: US Kids Golf India
Gurgaon, Dec 16: Adit Veeramachaneni showed that he was a cut above the rest as he shot a second successive 4-under 68 at the Classic Golf and Country Club to make a clean sweep of all the events during the season in Boys 9 category of the US Kids Golf India. The Bengaluru lad won the final event with a fine card with six birdies against two bogeys.
Another player to keep a winning streak amidst strong competition was Chaitanya Pandey. In the sixth leg he went 6-over 78 in Boys 11 but still won as he had in previous domestic events.
Both Adit and Chaitanya won all six domestic events and the Indian Championship overcoming strong competition in their groups.
Two other players Jot Sarup Gupta (Boys 8) and Manyaveer Bhadoo (Boys 15-18) had little competition through the season as they won their sixth straight domestic title. Jot Sarup also won the Indian Championship.
Adit turned in a very impressive series of scores through the six events. They included a stunning 7-under 65 at Golden Greens, two scores of 4-under 68 each in last two legs at Classic and a 69 in the first leg. He also shot an even par 72 in the second leg. The only time he went over par was at the fourth leg when he scored 2-over 74. At the Indian Championship, he had rounds of 73-75-71 and won by eight shots.
Gairat Kaur Kahlon finally managed to get the better of Amaira Gulati in Girls Under 8, as she shot 1-over 37 to Amaira’s 2-over 38. Amaira had won the first three legs and then skipped the fourth before winning the fifth. She also won the Indian Championship.
Another impressive performer among girls was Kriti Parekh from Coonoor, who also won the Indian Championship. Playing in Girls 11-12 section, Kriti, who won the first leg returned to win the fifth and sixth, while her strong rival Shambhavi Chaturvedi won the third, fourth and fifth legs. Kriti had an excellent 2-over 74 beating Shambhavi by six shots in the final event.
Naina Kapoor, a consistent winner this year, won for the fifth time, as she beat the Indian Championship winner, Rabab Kahlon in the last event. Naina shot 74 to Rabab’s 75.
Mahreen Bhatia won for the fifth time in the season in Girls 13-14 and she shot an impressive 2-over 74, her best score of the season.
Apart from Adit Veeramachaneni, two other players shot under par. They were Divjot Gupta (1-under 35 in Boys 7) and Ranvir Singh Dhupia (1-under 71 in Boys 13-14).
Dhupia, after starting the season with a win, closed it with another win in one most hotly contested segments of the US Kids Golf India. Dhupia was two clear of Bhavesh Nirwan, who also had a win this year and Udai Aditya Middha, who won twice in the second and fifth legs. He was third in the sixth.
Nihal Cheema, the star in Under-6 category, who won the first four domestic events, added a fifth one as the series came to an end. He was one of impressive scorers with even par 36 for his nine holes. Nihal had turned in one of the most impressive 9-hole rounds with a 6-under 30 in the third leg.
In Boys 10 Vidit Aggarwal won his second straight title as the series ended, but his big moment of the season came at the Indian Championship, which he won.
Sohang Kantor after being second twice earlier rounded off the year with two successive wins and the final one came with a card 6-over 78.
