US Kids Indian Championship: Nihal, Drona, Bainsla among boys and Naaysha, Aanya in girls shine

Manesar (Haryana)[India], December 20 : Nihal Cheema, Drona Singh Dhull and Prince Bainsla, among the boys and Naaysha S Sinha, Gairat Kaur Kahlon, and Shiksha Jain, among the girls, were the outstanding performers in the fifth edition of the US Kids Golf Indian Championship at Classic Golf and Country Club.
Despite difficult weather conditions and the smog, local golfers made a clean sweep of the titles with creditable displays in rather challenging situations.
The final round for all sections was reduced to nine holes by the Tournament Committee as there was insufficient daylight on account of a delayed start.
Nihal Cheema in Boys 8, was the only player to shoot par or better on all three days as he emerged a runaway winner over his main rival Zowra Sikand. Chandigarh lad Cheema had rounds of 36-34-33 in his 9-hole rounds. On the final day he was bogey free and had three birdies.
Another fine performer was Haryana golfer, Drona Singh Dhull, who birdied four of the nine holes in Boys 11 category. He shot the best round of the day at 4-under 32 for nine holes with four birdies and no bogeys.
Prince Bainsla, who had the best round of the week among all players with a 6-under 66 on the first day won the Boys 15-18 ahead of Shashank Sachin Gadre, who had par scores on all three days. Arshvant Srivastava was third.
The standout players in Girls includes Aanya Dandriyal in Girls 11-12 and Preitisha Kaur Gill in Girls 15-18.
Aanya Dandriyal and Malaysia's Choi Quinn Cie were involved in a close battle with both totalling 196 for 45 holes. The tie-breaker was won by Aanya, who in her regulation round had an eagle and a birdie against four bogeys.
Among the other outstanding performers of the week were Naaysha S Sinha in Girls 8, Gairat Kaur Kahlon in Girls 9-10 and Shiksha Jain in Girls 13-14.
Among the other stars in the Boys section were Taanush Kumar in Boys 9, Vedaansh Jain in Boys 10, Siddhant Sharma in Boys 12 and Arihaan Beri in Boys 13-14.
For the first time, all winners up to the fifth place were given cash prizes. He winners received Rs. 25,000, while the second and third places received Rs. 10,000 each and the next three places were rewarded with Rs. 5,000 each.
"While the US Kids Indian Championship has the incentive of Priority Status for the leading performers, the idea of cash prizes was to make it attractive for the golfers and the family, who put in so much effort to make their kids champions," said Rajesh Srivastava, President and Founder of US Kids Golf India and Asia. "We also plan to bring foreign coaches and send the kids abroad for training."
"We have already spread across Asia in almost a dozen countries, where our Indian kids are welcome to play. We also welcome kids from other countries to come over to India. In a year's time we propose to have an Asian Championships for US Kids from all over Asia. The venue will be a top class Championship course," he added.
The US Kids Indian Championships also had Skills contests with various prizes.
The dates for the local Tours, which are likely to have double the number of events, divided into two halves of the season, will be announced later, as will be the various US Kids National Championships in different Asian countries.
Results after the third and final day of the US Kids Golf Indian Championship at Classic Golf and Country Club, Manesar, Haryana:
Delay in play due to smog at the start resulted in a reduction of the final round to nine holes for all categories:
Boys 7 (all rounds 9 holes): 1. Keeon Agarwal (42-41-43) 126; 2. Adir Singh Chawla (50-45-45) 140; 3. Aahaan Gautam (59-67-64) 190;
Boys 8 (all rounds 9 holes): 1. Nihal Cheema (36-34-33) 103; .2. Zowra Sikand (41-41-39) 121; 3. Ahaan Chhita (SAF) (42-41-39) 123
Boys 9: 1. Taanush Kumar (82-70-37) 189; 2. Samar Singh (76-84-36) 196; 3. Aryaan Mittal (80-80-37) 197;
Boys 10: 1. Vedaansh Jain (79-78-37) 194; 2. Ryan Advik (82-81-41) 204; 3. Ruslaan Alam Khan (84-84-41) 209;
Boys 11: 1. Drona Singh Dhull (73-70-32) 175; 2. Che Faidh Amsyar Faizul (Mal) (82-78-40) 200; 3. Aayan Chittta (SAF) (75-85-41) 201;
Boys 12: 1. Siddhant Sharma (78-69-35) 182; 2. Adit Veeramachaneni (75-74-34) 183; 3. Raja Muhammad Syakir Raja Mohd (Mal) (73-73-39) 185;
Boys 13-14: 1. Arihaan Beri (72-77-36) 185; 2. Devvrat Singh (78-81-38) 197; 3. Raajveer Surri (89-76-38) 203;
Boys 15-18: Prince Bainsla (66-73-36) 175; 2. Shashank Sachin Gadre (72-72-36) 180; 3. Arshvant Srivastava (71-75-38) 184
Girls
Girls 8 (all rounds 9 holes): 1. Naasyha S Sinha (37-39-36) 112; 2. Taashi Jain (42-43-43) 128; 3. Abbakka Rawat Chettri (47-38-44) 129;
Girls 9-10: 1. Gairat Kaur Kahlon (75-74-39) 188; 2. Aadya Kaushal (75-78-38) 191; 3. Ahana Shah (81-78-39) 198;
Girls 11-12: 1. Aanya Dandriyal (81-77-38) 196 (won in tie breaker); 2. Choi Quinn Cie (81-79-36) 196; T3. Aaliyah Kalra (84-81-37) and Aaradhaya Rawat (76-84-42) 202;
Girls 13-14: 1. Shiksha Jain (74-77-34) 185; T2. Shambhavi Chaturvedi (74-76-40) and Ridhima Singh (68-82-40) 190;
Girls 15-18: 1. Preitisha Kaur Gill (76-73-38) 187; 2. Kriti Parekh (78-79-37) 194; 3. Samaira Tomar (77-80-39) 196.