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Vihaan Jain of Haryana made clutch putts on the homestretch on Friday to hold off a gritty Nilofer Sivamoorthy of Tamil Nadu, securing the IGU Southern India Junior Boys Golf Championship title at the Coimbatore Golf Club, a release said.
The 16-year-old got off to a shaky start but came good under pressure on the back nine. He carded a five-over 77 for a nervy, two-shot victory over Sivamoorthy (75) on a windswept day. This was the second consecutive Category 'A' (15-17 years) title for Vihaan, who finished with a 12-over 300 total. He also won last week in Vizag. Vihaan held a four-stroke cushion going into the final day, but a shaky front nine with four bogeys allowed the steady Sivamoorthy to snap at his heels. The Tamil Nadu golfer caught up with the leader on the 10th hole. Vihaan was a trifle unlucky on the 10th hole when his wedge shot from 107 yards ricocheted off a sprinkler head and went out of bounds. After his fourth shot got plugged in the bunker, he was fortunate to escape with a double-bogey six, it added. He holed a 20-footer to go up by a shot, but Sivamoorthy birdied the 14th to draw level. Vihaan then let his putter do the talking with great par saves. The Gurgaon youngster drained a 22-foot putt on the 14th hole, sank a 15-footer on the 15th, 10-foot putt on the 16th, and holed a 12-footer on the 17th hole. Under the cosh following Vihaan's brilliant putting, Sivamoorthy bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes to hand Vihaan a two-stroke lead heading into the final hole. A steady par on the 18th secured the championship for Vihaan. Like Vihaan, Delhi's Chaitanya Pandey clinched his second straight Category 'B' (13-14 years) title. Pandey shot a closing 77 to seal a three-shot victory over Jaibir Singh Kang (74). Pandey finished with a four-day total of 20-over 308. Final scores (after 72 holes): Category 'A' (15-17 years): 300: Vihaan Jain (Har, 75, 72, 76, 77); 302: Nilofer Sivamoorthy (TN, 77, 74, 76, 75); 305: Adhiraaj Singh Gill (Pun, 74, 79, 76, 76); 308: Shashank Sachin Gadre (Mah, 79, 78, 75, 76), Chaitanya Pandey (Del, 79, 75, 77, 77). Category 'B' (13-14): 308: Chaitanya Pandey; 311: Jaibir Singh Kang (83, 77, 77, 74); 314: Saatvic Kumar Singh (Tel, 81, 78, 80, 75); 321: Aditya Tewari (Kar, 85, 78, 80, 78); 332: Siddhant Sharma (Har, 82, 83, 81, 86). (ANI)
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