Sri Lanka ‘A’ team wins International Team Championship and Zia-Ul-Haq Trophy in Nuwara Eliya

The Sri Lanka ‘A’ team comprising G.P. Sisira Kumara and N. Amarapadma annexed the Parlakimedi Trophy for the International Team Event by one stroke over the formidable Indian team represented by Karthik Sharma and Dhruv Sheoran, with the Pakistan and Sri Lanka ‘B’ team tied in third place on a 308 aggregate gross score over two rounds.

The Sri Lanka ‘A’ team, nominated beforehand, defeated the Pakistan team by a comprehensive seven strokes to regain the Gen. Zia-Ul-Haq Trophy.

The second round of the qualifying segment of the 130th Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championship was not much different to Day One, with regular showers compounded by strong winds, so much so that in the early part of the morning play was suspended for about 25 minutes. Upon the restart, scoring was difficult and in challenging conditions once more, Indian youngster Sharma returned an Even Par 71 to take the number one seeding in the 32-qualifier automatic draw.  Karthik also snatched the Timothy De Silva Challenge Trophy for the best Individual Aggregate Gross Score over two rounds over N. Amarapadma, who was tied with him on 147, with a better second round score. Amarapadma was unlucky in the individual event, being runner-up for the second time in two days after he was edged out for the Victoria Cup on Day One.

The match play segment starts Monday with the round of 32. Sharma and Sheoran are seeded one and four, while Amarapadma and Kumara dominate the bottom half of the draw seeded second and third respectively. 

The Pin Fernando Grand Prix’s number 1 ranked player B.A. Sanjeewa secured the seventh seed with an uncharacteristic 81in the first round and further strengthened Sri Lanka’s hand in the bottom half. Among others, Navinda Ranga, the winner of the Victoria Cup on Day One, could possibly guarantee a Sri Lankan semi-final. 

The top half looks very interesting with the Indian top seed and fourth seed expected to meet in the semi-final though the Indian party can be spoilt by Chalitha Pushpika, Chanaka Perera and J.M.D. Indika, who meet the local favourite Vinoth kumar, who came down from Qatar to play in the championship. Pakistan Amateur Champion Ashiq Hussain is also in the top half of the draw whilst fellow countryman M. Rehman is in an isolated battle in the bottom half.