Local boys Sunit Chawrasia, Udajyjit Bhalotia and Karandeep Kochar were among the prominent qualifiers for the Matchplay round of the 116th Amateur Golf Championship of India here on Wednesday.
The top-32 finishers in the strokeplay will now move into the Matchplay segment at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC). Among the top 32 were four foreign players, including two from South Africa Shaun Stapleton and Francois Le Roux, Bangladesh's Afnan Mahmud Choudhary and Sri Lankan Sisira Kumar.
Chawrasia's first round 68 and Udayjit's second round 69 and Kang's first round 71 were the only sub-par rounds in two days at the RCGC.
Chowrasia, nephew of five-time Asian Tour and three-time European Tour winner S.S.P. Chawrasia, topped the honours in the strokeplay round preceding the main Matchplay. He tallied two-under 142 and was the only player to have a sub-par total for 36 holes.
Tied at second were Chandigarh's Kochar (73-74), who recently became the first Indian amateur to win a pro tournament on the domestic circuit, with Amir Khan (72-75) of Delhi.A
Udayjit, son of former professional and now coach, Indrajit Bhalotia, had a second round of 69, the lowest card on second day, after a first day 79. He was tied fourth with H.S. Kang (71-77) of Chandigarh.
India internationals in amateur golf Yuvraj Sandhu, Aalap I.L., Arjun Prasad, Kshitij Naved Kaul and veteran Amit Luthra were among the other qualifiers.
--IANS
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