A three member team of golf professionals representing Colombo is all set to make its debut in the third edition of Rs. 1.2 Crore Louis Philippe Cup, India’s premier pro golf league, from 17-22 February 2014 at Bombay Presidency Golf Club in Mumbai, India.
Comprising top Sri Lankan golfers N Thangaraja who finished 12th on Indian golf circuit (Professional Golf Tour India) in 2013 and K Prabagaran (2013 PGTI Rank 15) along with Himmat Rai (sponsor’s pick) from India, the Krrish Colombo team will join eight other cities from India in the only pro team golf tournament in the subcontinent.
The nine city teams are – Navratna Ahmedabad, Puravankara Bangalore, TAKE Chennai, Krrish Colombo, Shubhkamna Delhi, DLF Gurgaon, Jaypee Greens Greater Noida, AVT Kolkata and Dev-Ellora Laqshya Mumbai.
As per the team selection criteria of the Louis Philippe Cup, the top 18 ranked professionals on the final PGTI 2013 Order of Merit are assured of a place on one of the city teams. The top two Players who reside in a particular city automatically qualify to play from that city provided they are ranked in the top 18 in the PGTI year end money list ranking. The third member of each city team is picked by the team sponsors.
Interestingly, the highest ranked Sri Lankan on PGTI, Mithun Perera, could not turn up for Krrish Colombo as he was retained by Navratna Ahmedabad team to maintain the successful combination of the team that won the first edition of the League. Vinod Kumar and Vikrant Chopra along with Mithun Perera formed a winning combination in the inaugural edition of the competition and finished third last year. With a vision to win the title again, Navratna Ahmedabad has been the only team to have remained unchanged in all three editions of Louis Philippe Cup.
“I’m really excited for having a team from Colombo playing for the first time in India’s premier professional golf league, the Louis Philippe Cup. It will be great experience for me and my countryman Prabagaran to represent Colombo as the only international team along with our colleague Himmat Rai from India. Mithun Perera has been a part of the league for three years now. And now with Colombo all set to make its debut, it only shows how golf is growing in Sri Lanka as well as in the Indian subcontinent.” said N Thangaraja.
