Another consistent performance of 3 under par 68 by Thailand’s Nattawat Suvajanakorn in the 2nd qualifying round put him well ahead of the field by 7 strokes on 136 with Bangladeshi Md. Sajib Ali scoring an even par 71 to take the second spot on 143 at the end of the qualifying stage. India’s Aman Raj also improved on his yesterday’s score to grab the third spot at 145 and Udayan Mane with a much improved 1 under par 70 tied for fourth with Sri Lanka’s Amarapadma. Overall scores were better on day 2 by most of the better players as they fought hard to make it to the top 32 quaifiers for the match play segment.
There was much excitement in the International Team Event for the Parlakemedi Trophy where overnight leaders Thailand were pipped at the post by India who won by virtue of a better 2nd round when they were on the same score of 292. Sri Lanka won the side competition with Pakistan for the Zia-ul-Haq Trophy with a far more polished and improved performance giving the National Selectors some relief. Sri Lanka scored 154 to Pakistan’s 158.
The Indian ladies continued to collect the Silverware with Tvesa Malik fighting hard to show her compatriot Astha Madan her true form coming from behind to tie the scores on 157 and nick the Lilamani Weeraratne Trophy by virtue of a better 2nd round. Suwen Selvaratnam took away the Seniors trophy for Ladies.
G. Harrison showed the Seniors why he is the best with a well-paced round of 75 and kept just ahead of Navy’s Premaratne who turned in a fantastic round of 73.
The match play starts on Thursday 24th and there could be quite a few upsets as the Nuwara Eliya Golf Course is well known for penalizing the unwary.
