Ahmedabad, Nov 26 (IANS) Aman Raj, the current leader on the IGPL Tour, leads the home challenge as the Asian Tour makes a welcome return to Indian soil for the Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat. This is the first Asian Tour event in India since the last one in March 2023.

Ahmedabad’s Kensville Golf Resort hosts the much-awaited inaugural Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat, an event co-sanctioned by the IGPL Tour in India.

The Bharath Classic is the crown jewel in the IGPL schedule. Winning the Bharath Classic will assure the champion the Asian Tour playing privileges through 2026 and 2027 and open pathways to the highly lucrative International Series and the Liv Golf Tour.

Aman leads the challenge of the top four from the IGPL Money List. Aman, a two-time winner in Jaipur and Kolkata, is followed by the long-hitting Pukhraj Singh Gill, winner of the IGPL Jamshedpur, and Sachin Baisoya and teen prodigy Kartik Singh. Another IGPL winner, Kapil Kumar, is also in the field.

Baisoya and Kartik have delivered consistent results but are still looking for their maiden IGPL wins.

Uttam Singh Mundy, the CEO of IGPL, was thrilled to get the Asian Tour back to India. “The Asian Tour has been the biggest and best route for Indian players to get to the next levels of world golf. All our top stars have come through the Asian Tour, so to get it back here with the IGPL Tour is a good feeling. Our boys have always performed well on home soil, so this is a big platform for them, and I hope they can use it to get to their Asian Tour card.”

Aman Raj, who has made it clear that his goal is to get back to the Asian Tour next season, sees this as the big goal. He said, “My aim is to top the IGPL Order of Merit and get to the Asian Tour Q-School, but I can shortcut the route to Asian Tour by winning this week,” said Aman Raj after a practice round. “The course is looking great, and the roughs are up, and the greens are rolling well. It will be a good challenge.”

“The field is strong with a lot of internationals, including a big group from Thailand, like Jazz (Janewattananond) and the recent winner, Ekpharit Wu, who won in Taiwan. But our home challenge is also very strong, so there are four good days of golf coming up, and this event is a big chance for all of us,” added Aman Raj

Ajeetesh Sandhu, a one-time Asian Tour winner, also welcomed the return of the Asian Tour and said, “It’s good to play an Asian Tour event in India after a long time, and I hope more tournaments are added to the schedule. This gives our boys a big chance.”

Yuvraj Sandhu, a prolific winner on the domestic Tour, is also hoping to keep his Asian Tour card as the season comes towards the end. Yuvraj said, “Playing an Asian Tour event at home is always a big thing, and this being our home, it is good.” Yuvraj has been prolific on the Indian Tour this season with five wins.

Earlier this year, when Kensville hosted a domestic event, IGPL star Yashas Chandra of Mysore was second, and he would be looking to go one better. Gill, who has done well on the Asian Development Tour, will also be looking at the Bharath Classic to open new doors for him.

Young stars like Kartik Singh and Veer Ganapathy, the teenage duo, who have been making waves in their rookie season as professionals, look at Bharath Classic as a massive opportunity to hit it big so early in their careers.

The Kensville Golf Resort is a much-acclaimed course, which has in the past hosted Challenge Tour events and regularly plays host to domestic events.

The event is also part of the lucrative IGPL Tour, which has so far had seven events across India. It comes at an important juncture as numerous Asian Tour players, including Indians like Ajeetesh Sandhu and Yuvraj Sandhu, are fighting to save or secure Asian Tour cards.

At the same time, the current IGPL Order of Merit leader, Aman Raj, is hoping to get back to the Asian Tour with a win this week.

Yuvraj Sandhu, who has won multiple titles on the Indian Tour, Shaurya Bhattacharya, and Arjun Prasad, also winners in India, will also feature in the half-a-million-dollar event.

Olympians Udayan Mane and SSP Chawrasia are also in the field, as are a host of Asian Tour winners like Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa, and former Indian Open champion C Muniyappa will also tee up this week.

–IANS

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