Abhijit off to a decent start, Prasad T-11th

Chandigarh, January 11 

Chandigarh lad Abhijit Chadha carded a five-under 67 to finish tied-19th on the opening day of the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Chadha was tied with Khalin Joshi, M Dharma and Manu Gandas. Two-time PGA Tour winner Daniel Chopra also shot a 67.

City golfers Ajeetesh Sandhu and Sujjan Singh were tied-48th after the duo carded an identical 68. Giving them company at the same position was Delhi's Honey Baisoya. 

Meanwhile, 17-year-old amateur golfer Arjun Prasad shot a fine six-under 66 to get off to a great start the Suvarnabhumi Golf & Country Club in Bangkok.

Prasad, winner of the Faldo Series Grand Final in China, is part of a strong 16-man contingent from India, which is hoping to grab some Tour cards at the Q-School.

Prasad is two shots behind leader, American William Cannon who fired a sparking eight-under-par 64 to share the lead with Australia's Todd Sinnot.

The budding golfer, who was seven-under with seven birdies through 16 holes, dropped his only bogey of the day on 17th to finish at 66.

Prasad said Asian Tour honorary member Jeev Milkha Singh was his idol. "It's a good morale booster for me. I played some solid golf today and didn't make too much mistakes. I followed my game plan closely. This is my second week in Thailand and it's getting pretty tiring already. My high school exams are next week and I'm making a big sacrifice by being here," he said.

"I've been playing golf for the last eight years and I won the Faldo Series Asia Grand Finals in China last year. My golf career has been good so far. I plan to turn professional if I can earn my Asian Tour card this week. I always look up to Jeev Sir as my inspiration. He has been a great role model and I hope to emulate his success one day."

Other Indians in the fray included Ashok Kumar (69), Aman Raj (70), Veer Ahlawat (71), Gaurav Pratap Singh (71), Udayan Mane (71), C Muniyappa (72) and Deepender Kullar (75).

The top-35 players and ties from the field of 222 will earn playing rights on the region's premier Tour in 2017.