Dhanaranjan,Taniya, Dhanushan,Yannik shine at regional junior golf, Kandy

G. Dhanaranjan, fresh from winning the Victoria Junior Open Championship on Saturday, went on to win back-to-back tournaments by winning the Gold division of the Kandy Regional Junior open 2015 on Sunday.

The lad, a product of the Victoria Golf Club Junior Development Squad, fared brilliantly playing 3 under in the first day and 10 over par second day to close the tournament 7 over par. 

From left: Indika Dissanayake (Head of Sales Prima Ceylon), K. Dhanushan, Yannik Kumara, Taniya Minel, G. Dhanaranjan, Neroy Marso (General Manager VGCR) 

The second leg of the national junior regional golf tournament was worked off at the picturesque Victoria Golf & Country Club where 60 juniors competed for top honours played over two days under tough arid conditions. 

Two other players from Kandy showed much maturity: S. Flamin and S. Sawmiyan who fared well in the tournament. However T. Akash of Colombo took the runner up position in the Gold division playing steady golf over the two rounds, behind the winner by 5 shots. 

The Silver division was won by Taniya Minel and Bronze division by K. Dhanushan while Yannik Kumarathe, divisional champion in Nuwara Eliya, went on to win the Kandy regional in the most junior category Copper division.

In the Silver division first day leader 14-year-old VinodWeerasinghe crumbled under pressure. Taniya Minel went on to win the Silver division championship playing stylish golf on the second day with aggregate score of 165, followed by Iman Sangani with aggregate score of 190 and Dilshan Malinda with aggregate score of 193.

In the Bronze division the tussle was between Levon Niyerapola and K. Dhanushan. However Dhanushan showed maturity to win by 6 shots. 

In the most junior category the Copper division stiff competition was evident. Yannik Kumara showed his class with scores of 34, 35 over 9 holes and went on to win the division, closely followed by Nirekh Tejwaniwith scores of 35, 37 and Harish Kressive with scores of 35, 45. 

We are likely to read much about Yannik in the future with beautiful swing play and mind power displayed for a nine-year-old. The juniors from Nuwara Eliya failed to take any wins in their first outing since the launch of the development program in the current year.

The championship was conducted by the Sri Lanka Golf Union with the support of Ceylon Agro Industries, promoters of Prima Sunrise Bread, and Pro Golf Ltd. along with Victoria Golf & Country Club, host for the event. 

The Sri Lanka Golf Union’s vision of identifying talent in the country is taking shape with the development of junior golfers in the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya Districts taking place with the ongoing development programs in place. For the first time junior participation was evident from schools in the area. 

The bold step in introducing national regional open championships is to identify the young talent islandwide to bring to the national squad level. It’s an initiative to foster talent regionally and talent scouting for national representation. 

The sponsor Prima Ceylon was represented by Indika Dissanayake who was the guest of honour and awards were given by Neroy Marso, General Manager, Victoria Golf & Country Club and club professional Pathmanathan.

Results

Gold Division

(Under 18 yrs)

1. G. Dhanaranjan 153, 2. T. Akash 158, 3. S. Sawmiyan 162, 4. S. Flamin 165

Silver Division

(Under 15 yrs)

1. Taniya Minel 165, 2. Vinod Weerasinghe 172, 3.Iman Sangani 190, 4. Dilshan Malinda 193

Bronze Division

(Under 12 yrs)

1. K. Dhanushan 187, 2. Levon Niyerapola 193, 3. T. Vikash 201, 4. Haroon Aslam 202 

Copper Division

(Under 10 yrs)

1. Yannik Kumara 69, 2. Nirekh Tejwani 72, 3.Harish Kressive 80, 4. M. Saran 92