India's number one amateur golfer Aman Raj could not perform to his potential as he exited from the Amateur Golf Championship of India at the pre-quarter final stage after going two-down to Delhi-boy Ankur Chadha at the Classic Golf Resort, here.
Patna-born Aman entered the game by halving first two holes before dropping a birdie on 3rd. Raj was three-down after nine but was in the game till the end before he missed a 15-foot birdie at the finishing hole.
Disappointing with his performance on third attempt at the oldest amateur tournament, Aman said, "The way I was missing putts today, I could have lost very early. I didn't hit a single birdie in the front nine which caused a lot of trouble. Even after pulling the game till the 18th, I couldn't go further."
20-year-old Aman who still ends the year as number one amateur said, "It's hard to believe that I am out of this competition but the number one position is surely a healing factor. With all my learning on the amateur tour, I will be playing the qualifier of PGTI and Asian Tour next year and hopefully turn pro soon."
Another hopeful, Kolkata's Viraj Madappa also failed to make it to the semi-finals as he lost to Shubham Narain, number two junior of the country, 5 & 6.
Delhi's Vikram Rana who has been playing on the IGU circuit for several years, entered the semi-finals after beating Varun Parikh in the pre-quarter final 4 & 3 and then Shiv Naren Srinivasan in the quarter final 3 & 2. Rana will now face Faridabad's Priyanshu Singh tomorrow.
The match between Ankur Chadha and Kshitij Naved Kaul was suspended due to fading light and the winner of this match will play against Shubham Narain in the semi-finals.
