Joshi Among Players Aiming to Become First to Win Panasonic Open Title Twice

Gurugram, Nov 12 (PTI) No golfer has won the Panasonic Open India more than once and India's Khalin Joshi will be among the select band of players to try and do it for the first time, when the event tees off at a new venue on Thursday.

The USD 400,000 full field Asian Tour event will be played from November 14-17 at the Classic Golf and Country Club for the first time. The previous editions were held at the Delhi Golf Club.

Players from as many as 17 countries have entered for the event, which has become well known for producing Indian winners. Seven of the eight winners going back to 2011 have been Indian, but no one has been able to repeat the success.

The 2019 edition will see five of the eight previous winners return to the event with Joshi leading the way and Shiv Kapur, Mukesh Kumar, Chiragh Kumar and Digvijay Singh giving Joshi company in the winners' gallery.

Joshi, who had a series of Top-10s before grabbing his first win at the Panasonic Open India, will be hoping to buck the trend and become the first repeat winner.

"It's going to be exciting defending my first Asian Tour title. I like the golf course and my game is getting more positive and I'm confident. The win is still very fresh on my mind. I putted and drove the ball really well that week," Joshi said.

"There are positive signs now as I'm getting those similar feelings like last year. I just got to just block out unnecessary thoughts like I'm the defending champion and just play my own game."

Joshi produced a dramatic finish when he fired four birdies in his closing five holes to sign for a four-under-par 68 and clinched his maiden Asian Tour title by one shot over Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman, who finished runner-up for the third time.

"The Classic Golf and Country Club is a lovely course and it's not very long. But it demands good driving and good putting as well. If you can put the ball on the fairway and putt well, you're going to be up there on the leaderboard for sure," said Joshi.

Joshi has not been as steady as he was a year ago, with his best finish this season being tied-19th result in Chinese Taipei last month.

"I have not enjoyed a great season so far, but I hope to play well every week and put myself in a good position so that I can put myself in a winning situation again," he said.

A bunch of talented Indians from Shiv Kapur to Khalin Joshi, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rashid Khan, Viraj Madappa, S Chikkrangappa, Aadil Bedi among others could lift that trophy besides winning the Blue Jacket, that has become the tradition for winners of Panasonic Open India.

The international challenge will be led by Asian Tour winners like Rory Hie of Indonesia, who won the Classic Golf & Country Club Championship at the same course in September, Thais Suradit Yongcharoenchai, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Prom Meesawat and Danthai Boonma, Argentine Miguel Carballo, Filipino Miguel Tabuena, Australian Jason Norris among others.

Another highlight of the event will be the presence of India's 'Big Three' of Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa, all of them now senior professionals. Between them they have won titles on every major Tour of the world, ranging from US PGA to European, Asian and Japan Tours.

The generation next to them now, being led by Shiv Kapur, Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shubhankar Sharma, ply their trade on Asian, European and PGA Tours. And they in turn have inspired the current crop including Ajeetesh Sandhu, Khalin Joshi, Rashid Khan and many others. PTI PDS

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