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Positive news in Indian golf.
Gaganjeet Bhullar closed an amazing week with a brilliant eagle putt from 20 feet on the 18th hole to clinch his 11th Asian Tour title and an incredible fifth win in Indonesia on Sunday.
Finishing second behind Bhullar was another Indian Karandeep Kochhar who had a bogey-free 63 on the final day.
In fact, Bhullar dropped two bogeys during the day but made it up with four birdies. The eagle from 20 feet ensured he take home the trophy.
A bit of context:
Bhullar’s five-shot win at the BNI Indonesia Masters in Jakarta was also the biggest of his international career. It was also the first win in the International Series for any Indian. The last win for any Indian on the Asian Tour was 15 months ago, also in Indonesia, by Bhullar, who revealed that his mother was born in Indonesia.
The win took Bhullar to fourth place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, while Kochhar is the next best Indian at 19th.
An added bonus for Bhullar was that his victory catapulted him from 46th place on The International Series Order of Merit to eighth. Those from second to eight places are fast tracked into the second round of the LIV Golf Promotions event in three weeks in Abu Dhabi. The top three finishers there will earn places in next year’s LIV Golf League.
“Today I played pretty well actually. I struggled a bit in the middle of the round, there was a stretch when I was trying my level best but I was not making the birdies but the chip in on number 16 turned around everything. And, of course the eagle on the last was the icing on the cake.” Bhullar said.
Wow, this is a shocker. Shillong Lajong FC handed Gokulam Kerala FC their first defeat of the season. Daniel Goncalves, Renan Paulino and Hardy Cliff Nongbri scored for Lajong at home to win the match 3-1. For Gokulam, Nili Perdomo scored the only goal.
This was Lajong’s first win in the four matches they have played so far, while Gokulam are in second place with 10 points from five matches. Mohammedan Sporting, who won on Saturday, continue to top the table with 13 points from five outings.
The league has started as we usually see this division do – at breakneck pace and with everyone bunching close to each other. The current top two remain hot favourites, but it’ll be interesting to note how this season fares – especially with the carrot of ISL promotion at the end of it all.
Outstanding bowling performance from Australia as India were bowled out for 240. Skipper Rohit Sharma gave India a great start, like he did throughout the tournament, scoring 47 in 31 balls while Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66) shared a decent partnership. But once they were gone, India struggled to score boundaries with Australian bowlers doing really well to exploit the slow nature of the pitch.
However, it’s not going to be easy for Australia as India’s key bowlers are in form and very much capable of defending the target.
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It’s in all caps, because the excitement is that palpable, really. Why not get warmed up for the big final with some cracking pieces: Here’s Sambit Bal on how this is a final that was inevitable and somehow still unpredictable, two trains on a collision course. Or you could read Osman Samiuddin trying to find a German word to describe how Australia do Australia things in sport and Sidharth Monga charting out Rahul Dravid’s arc of redemption.
The final. India will take on Australia in the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Both the teams are on a terrific unbeaten run but it is India who start as big favourites for the trophy. They dominated the tournament, winning every game and their key players are performing at their best. However, Rohit Sharma and co. will know that beating Australia in a final will not to be a walk in the park. No team has won more World Cups than Australia in this format and they will look to maintain their tag of serial winners on Sunday.
Apart from the cricket, expect more updates from Indian football with the men’s team taking on Qatar in their second FIFA World Cup Qualifier on November 21.
You can check all the details of Friday’s news events here. Here are the cliff notes:
Para athlete Neeraj Yadav fails dope test
Decision on VAR in Indian domestic football ‘very soon’
End of Rohan Bopanna’s 2023 season
Explained: What does Sindhu’s partnership with Prakash Padukone mean?
Chhetri and co. arrive in Bhubaneswar for FIFA WC Qualifier against Qatar