Chandigarh, Apr 12 (IANS): Top professionals like Olympian Udayan Mane, Khalin Joshi, Kshitij Naveed Kaul, Karandeep Kochhar and Honey Baisoya will be among the contenders in the PGTI Players Championship 2022 at the Chandigarh Golf Club here from Tuesday. The tournament carries a prize purse of Rs. 50 lakh.
The field of 126 players includes 123 professionals and three amateurs. Among the other leading Indian professionals in the fray are Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Manu Gandas, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Akshay Sharma and Aadil Bedi. Local lad Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, currently ranked second on the PGTI Order of Merit, is the highest-ranked player on the Order of Merit among those participating in the event.
The foreign challenge will be led by Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja and Anura Rohana, Bangladeshis Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain, Md Sayum, Md Muaj and Md Somrat Sikdar as well as Nepal's Sukra Bahadur Rai, the PGTI informed in a release on Monday.
Besides Karandeep Kochhar, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Akshay Sharma and Aadil Bedi, the other top golfers from Chandigarh Tricity participating in the event include Angad Cheema, Harendra Gupta, Harmeet Kahlon, Amandeep Johl, Gurbaaz Mann, Ranjit Singh and Amritinder Singh.
Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI said, "We thank Chandigarh Golf Club for their support in helping establish the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship as a regular feature in Chandigarh. We also thank Gujarat Tourism for coming on board as the Associate Partner for the event. The Chandigarh Golf Club has always produced fascinating finishes. We now look forward to another intense week of competition."
K S Sibia, captain, Chandigarh Golf Club, said, "The Chandigarh Golf Club has been a nursery for Indian professional golf having produced many players of international repute such as Jeev Milkha Singh, Harmeet Kahlon, Uttam Singh Mundy, Amandeep Johl, Amritinder Singh, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Sujjan Singh, Gurbaaz Mann and A S Lehal, to name a few. It is our endeavour to continue the tradition of churning out champion golfers from Chandigarh with the staging of events such as the PGTI Players Championship. The course is in immaculate condition and will test the skills of the best golfers in the country during the event. As we have a strong field this week we expect the record for the lowest winning total at Chandigarh Golf Club which currently stands at 20-under 268, to be broken."