Chalitha Pushpika topples Indian top seed

• Sri Lanka 3 out of 4 in semifinal

 It was a glorious day for Sri Lanka as Chalitha Pushpika came from behind to stretch the top-seeded Karthik Sharma from India to square the match and force a sudden death play-off. Neither man wanted to give in and they halved the 19th, 20th before Pushpika snatched victory on the 21st to enter the top half of the semi-final and set up another fascinating duel with the only other Indian, Dhruv Sheoran, left in the championship.

Earlier in the afternoon second seed Amarapadma comfortably overcame Prashan Peiris and G.M. Pradeep Kumara booked his berth in the bottom half of the semifinal line-up.

Kumara created a major upset in the morning when he ousted B.A. Sanjeewa, the top-ranked amateur in the Pin Fernando Grand Prix 2017.

G.P. Sisira Kumara, last year’s runner-up, proved his worth with a solid performance, defeating D.M.P. Pradeep Bandara 2 and 1 in the morning and then defeated Pakistan’s number one M. Rehman 2 up to meet Amarapadma in a home and home semifinal.

Pushpika showed his positive spirit earlier in the morning as well, when he was 2 down ‘dormie’ to M.U. Chanaka Perera, but fought back bravely to win the 17th, 18th and 19th to advance to the quarterfinals where he ousted the top seed in a similar or even  more fascinating manner.

The 130th Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championship 2017 semifinal line-up:

M.H. Chalitha Pushpika vs. Dhruv Sheoron (India)

N. Amarapadma vs. G P Sisira Kumara