Dubai-based Lahiri tied ninth in Asian Games golf

Dubai-based Anirban Lahiri representing India, shot a five under par 67 to be tied ninth , six behind the leader, after round one of the Asian Games Golf Tournament being held at West Lake International Golf Course located in Xihu District, Hangzhou, China.

Lahiri was in the opening three ball of the day at 10.30 am.

Leading the individual event on 11 under par with a 61 was 21-year-old Y. Jang, a performance that helped South Korean top of the team event on 26 under par.

The leading Middle East golfer was Qatar’s Ali Abdullah Al-Shahrani, winner of the recent 35th Qatar Open Amateur held over the last weekend, with a 70.

He was followed two shots back by UAE Team Captain Ahmad Skaik and another Qatari golfer Saleh Ali Al Kaabi.

Skaik had an impressive six birdies in his opening round.

Lahiri was out in a three birdie 32 while a further five birdies followed on holes 13 to 17 to leave him on nine under par on the 18th tee. However, a double bogey finish spoilt a tidy scorecard.

On completing his round Lahiri told Khaleej Times: “Today was a good start, I played really well. The golf course was very gettable as you can see from the scores.

“I still feel very jet lagged and I am looking forward to my first good night’s sleep for a few days having travelled from Chicago on Sunday to here in China. Fortunately, it was cloudy this morning following some overnight rain and no wind. The sun did not come out, so I was lucky,” Lahiri added.

“India is in contention. We had a couple of weak holes while Shubhankar Sharma also had a double bogey on the back nine.

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‘South Korea got off to a real flier but there are still three rounds to go,” he said. “Rest and more rest for me is on the immediate agenda and then let’s do it all again tomorrow in round two.”

There are 20 Asian countries represented this week, including golfers from Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The full field has 82 players.

Leading Round One Scores

(6654 Yards, Par 72).

Individual Scores

Hong Kong, China 200.