Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 14 : The stage is set for an exciting final day, as only three strokes separate the top four on the leaderboard after the penultimate day of the IGU Andhra Pradesh Junior Boys Golf Championship at the East Point Golf Club here on Thursday.
Overnight leader Arjun Dahiya held on splendidly on the back nine with a one-over 73 card to stay one shot ahead of Vihaan Jain (73), while the duo of Chaitanya Pandey (74) and Ishnidh Virdi (75) remained in contention three shots off the pace.
Dahiya, who took his three-day tally to three-under 213, suffered a meltdown on the front nine to allow first-round leader Vihaan to take a four-shot lead at the turn. A 10th-tee starter, the leader had two three-putt bogeys (11th and 15th holes) and dropped another shot on the 12th, where he found the right trees with his 3-wood tee shot.
Vihaan, meanwhile, was solid with birdies on the 15th and 17th holes to take a big lead. However, Dahiya fought back with birdies on the second and ninth holes. Vihaan dropped a shot on the second and knocked his 5-wood tee shot out of bounds on the ninth, ending up with a double bogey to sit one shot behind the leader.
In Category 'B' (13-14 years), Pandey took a whopping 13-shot lead over Aditya Misra (76) with a cumulative total of even-par 216.
Later, Drona Singh Dhull edged out Shan Alvi on the first playoff hole to annex the Category 'C' (11-12 years) title after both had finished the 54-hole competition at seven-over 223.
Despite being three shots behind the leader going into the final day, Drona shot a one-under 71 to force a playoff. Alvi, who led for the first two days, managed only a two-over 74 on the final day.
Leading scores (after 54 holes): Category 'A' (15-17 years): 213: Arjun Dahiya (Haryana, 70, 70, 73); 214: Vihaan Jain (Delhi, 67, 74, 73); 216: Chaitanya Pandey (Delhi, 72, 70, 74), Ishnidh Virdi (Karnataka, 70, 71, 75); 219: Shashank Sachin Gadre (Maharashtra, 72, 74, 73); 220: Sidhant Nathan (Karnataka, 74, 75, 71).
Category 'B' (13-14): 216: Chaitanya Pandey; 229: Aditya Misra (Delhi, 75, 78, 76); 230: Saatvic Kumar Singh (78, 77, 75), Jaibir Singh Kang (77, 78, 75); 231: Aditya Tewari (Karnataka, 79, 77, 75).
Category 'C' (11-12): 223: Drona Singh Dhull (Haryana, 76, 76, 71), Shan Alvi (Delhi, 74, 75, 74). Drona wins in a playoff; 238: Sohraaab Singh Talwar (Punjab, 84, 78, 76); 239: Vivaan Singh (Karnataka, 81, 80, 78).
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