Arjun putts out top seed Ashok Kumar

Arjun Singh knocks out top seed Ashok Kumar to move into semis at the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship; Lam Chih Bing, Shamim Khan and Ali Sher complete the semi-final line-up.

Upset rules in Golf-Matchplay format, as one has to be on his toes all the time because at one point you are at the top and the other moment you will be shown the door since lapses cost matches in this taxing format of the game.

The same has been happening over the past few days in the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship being played at the Delhi Golf Club as once again ninth seed Arjun Singh pulled off the biggest upset of the day when he handed over a shocking defeat to top seed and defending champion Ashok Kumar in a pulsating quarterfinal encounter here on Thursday.

The semi-final line-up of the Professional Golf Tour of India’s (PGTI) SRF All India Matchplay Championship is completed as ninth seed Arjun Singh takes on fifth seed Lam Chih Bing in the first semi-final on Friday, while seventh seed Shamim Khan faces twenty-second seed Ali Sher in the second semi-final.

Arjun Singh registered a one-up win against defending champion and top seed Ashok Kumar by winning holes 2, 4, 7, 8, 13, 16 and 18. Ashok lost out the contest despite winning the first, third, fifth, 11th, 12th and 14th holes. Arjun prevailed over Vijay Kumar on the 20th hole during the pre-quarters earlier in the morning.

“I think I played better in my quarter final match rather than in pre-quarters. I played four over on the front nine in the pre-quarters but came back strongly with a four under on the back nine in the quarters. I was far steadier with a two under on the front nine and one under on the back nine,” said Arjun after registering an amazing win.

“I’m very pleased with my performance but it’s still a long way to go for me,” Arjun added.

Lam Chih Bing, who will face Arjun Singh in the semis, recorded an emphatic 6 & 5 win over Manav Jaini in the quarters. The Singaporean won the third, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth and 13th holes.

“I played really well in my second match (quarter final) today as I made eight birdies,” said Lam Chih Bing adding “I now feel really comfortable on this course because I have already played about 30 rounds on it.”

Chih Bing had beaten Mukesh Kumar 3 & 2 in his pre-quarter final encounter earlier in the day. Shamim Khan also made it to the semis after defeating Vivek Bhandari 2 & 1 in the pre-quarters and Naman Dawar 5 & 4 in the quarter-finals.

Shamim’s next opponent will be Ali Sher who clinched his quarter-final match against Harendra Gupta with a 1 up score. Ali Sher had outclassed C Muniyappa 3 & 2 in his pre-quarter final match.

In the other pre-quarter final matches played during the first half of the day, Ashok Kumar had prevailed over R Srinivas (2 up), Manav Jaini defeated Uttam Singh Mundy (1 up), Naman Dawar upset second seed Digvijay Singh (1 up) and Harendra Gupta beat Sandeep Syal (20th hole).