Hong Kong, May 28 (IANS) Ranveer Mitroo led the Indian charge by carding a brilliant two-under 69 to be placed tied fourth after the opening round of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) Junior Championship here at the Hong Kong Golf Club on Tuesday. The Indian Golf Union (IGU) sent a four-member team to compete in the prestigious tournament.

Ranveer, 16, began his round with birdies on the second and fifth holes before stumbling upon a bogey on the ninth hole. The Delhi amateur bogeyed on the 16th after six straight pars, but the junior India No. 1 for 2024 showed glimpses of top form by making quick amends with back-to-back birdies on the remaining two holes for his eventual tally.

Pleased with his round, Ranveer said, “The round was pretty okay. I made some good recoveries but also some silly errors. My approach for tomorrow is to rest well and analyse my statistics of today, to avoid making the mistakes I made today. I think an overall improvement in decision-making and execution is something I would want to work on.”

His compatriot Krish Chawla, the current junior India No. 1, was placed tied 16th after carding a modest one-over 72. Krish had a thrilling, topsy-turvy round as he sank an eagle and three birdies against three bogeys and a triple bogey. Vietnam’s Tuan Anh Nguyen submitted a card of six-under 65 to sit atop the leaderboard, a stroke adrift of New Zealand’s Cooper Moore.

The Indian pair of Ranveer and Krish were placed fifth in the boys team competition with a combined total of one-under 141. Australian duo of Hamish Farquharson and Cooper Giddings were placed on top of the standings with overall tally of three-under 139.

In the girls’ section, Delhi’s Kashika Mishra kept the Indian Tricolour flying high by posting a one-over 73 to be placed tied 10th. Her compatriot Saanvi Somu finished Round 1 in joint 17th spot.

Kashika, the current India No. 1 in both the junior and amateur categories, sank two birdies against a bogey on the front nine and followed it up with three bogeys and a birdie on the back nine for her final score.

The Indian pair of Kashika and Saanvi were ranked seventh with a combined score of four-over 148 after Round 1, 11 strokes behind the Thailand duo of Kritchanya Kaopattanaskul and Prim Prachnakorn and South Korean pair of Seojin Park and Yunseo Yang. In the mixed team event, the Indian pair of Ranveer and Kashika were lying in joint seventh position at even-par 142.

–IANS

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