Pune, Oct 6 (IANS) Kapil Kumar, who grabbed his maiden professional title at the IGPL Invitational, moved into second place on the IGPL Order of Merit. The 33-year-old, who defeated teenage Kartik Singh on the second play-off at the Poona Golf Club, was tied for sixth at the IGPL Chandigarh.

Kapil’s total earnings of Rs. 29,93,925 are second only to Gaganjeet Bhullar’s Rs. 45,00,000 from two wins at Chandigarh and Jaypee Greens.

Kartik, who was third at Jaypee and Tied-8th before that at Chandigarh, has been in the Top-10 in all three events. Following his runner-up finish in Pune, he has earned Rs. 28,71,557 and is now in third place behind Bhullar and Kapil.

Pukhraj Singh Gill, tied 11th in Chandigarh and T-8 in Jaypee, finished tenth in Pune, and he currently lies fourth in the IGPL Order of Merit with earnings of Rs. 21,21,557.

As many as four players have surpassed the Rs. 20 lakh threshold in just three events, with M Dharma in fifth place at Rs. 18,18,000. Sachin Baisoya, Kartik Sharma, Saarthak Chibber, Aman Raj, and young Veer Ganapathy hold the positions from fifth to tenth places.

The leading woman earner so far after three events is Durga Nittur with Rs. 4,76,400, placed 31st overall, and just behind her in second is Jasmine Shekar with Rs. 4,60,500, who is 32nd overall.

Meanwhile, professional Shat Mishra led his team to a fine victory in the Pro-Am at the IGPL Invitational Pune. Mishra’s quartet, which included Maj Gen Vikram Verma, Lt Col Shakti Singh, and Group Captain Manoj Gera. They tallied 53.2 points.

They finished ahead of the team led by professional Aadil Bedi, whose teammates were Col. Mohan Nasa, Vikram Puri, and Asheer Kapoor.

Bedi’s team edged out the team led by Aryan Roopa Anand, whose teammates included BK Nihal, Vikrant Tatkare, and Imran Azam.

The winning pros received Rs. 75,000, Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 25,000, respectively, while amateurs were awarded attractive prizes and a specially designed IGPL Trophy each.

–IANS

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