Rahil Gangjee and Shiv Kapur have raised hopes of an Indian party at the Gujarat Kensville Challenge at Kensville Golf and Country Club. After two rounds of the European Challenge, Gangjee and Kapur are leading the 15 home-grown golfers. The duo is at seven-under 137 after 36 holes. They were closely followed by a European trio comprising two Englishmen,
Gary Lockerbie (69) and Seve Benson (68), and a Swede, Jens Danthorp (68), all of whom are at six-under 138 in tied third place. Three others, German Max Keiffer (71), Australian Daniel Gaunt (68) and American Dodge Kemmer (72) were tied sixth at three-under 141.
Gangjee said, “I birdied 10, 11, 13, 14, bogeyed 16 and 18, and then birdied just one on the way back. I didn’t leave too many putts, but to be honest I struggled a bit. The greens got much firmer and somehow that didn’t really help me. When I missed the greens, it was difficult to control the distances of my chips. It would bounce and take off.”
Kapur, however, found the conditions easier since they weren’t quite windy. “The pins were a little more accessible. I got off to a great start with a birdie on the tenth, which was my first hole, and then managed to pick up three more shots without too many heroics.”
Apart from Gangjee and Kapur, Ranjit Singh (71-73) at tied 20th, Digvijay Singh (73-73), Ashok Kumar (75-70), Abhinav Lohan (72-73) and Mukesh (72-73) at tied 30th, Vinod Kumar (75-71), Kapil Kumar (73-73), Gaganjeet Bhullar (71-75) at tied 38th, Shamim Khan (72-75), Mandeo Pathania (75-72) and Manav Jaini (70-77) at tied 46th and Ajeetsh Sandhu (72-76) and Vijay Kumar (76-72) at tied 51 have made the cut.
There were a few casualties in the form of Asian tour winner Himmat Rai (77-74), John Parry (73-76), Daniel Vancsik (76-75), Chiragh Kumar (71-79) and the seasoned Gaurav Ghei (78-73) and Ali Sher (73-77).
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