Chon Buri [Thailand], Oct 24 (ANI): Shat Mishra, 17, and Shaurya Bhattacharya, 19, call themselves very close friends, as they have played together countless times. This week they flew in from Delhi to Bangkok to take part in what they said was “probably the most famous amateur event” – the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, the winner of which gets a tee time at the Masters at Augusta National, the following year, in addition to a start at Open, too.
Mishra and Bhattacharya are part of the seven-man Indian amateur squad that will play this week at the stunning Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, an hour outside Bangkok.
The other Indians in the field are Rayhan Thomas, Aryan Roopa Anand, Milind Soni, Arjun Gupta and Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa. Thomas is making his fifth appearance at the event, where he finished runner-up in 2018 at Sentosa Golf Club. Aryan Roopa Anand, Soni and Gupta are making their second appearance at the annual event, while Chopraa, son of former India cricketer Nikhil Chopraa, Bhattacharya and Mishra are making their AAC debut.
Both Mishra and Bhattacharya live in Delhi, so they play together a lot and on the amateur tour they also stick together.
The tall Mishra said: “I have been looking forward to this event for a long time. It should be the best in all things golf. And what could be better than playing an event that has a place to offer the Masters and the Open.” Bhattacharya, who is coached by former Asian Games team silver medalist Rahul Bajaj, couldn’t agree more. “Everyone is talking about this event, and it will be a first for both of us. So many champions have emerged from here and we will be playing on a world-class course.” The duo has been very busy. They played the Indian Ocean Championship at the picturesque Heritage course in Mauritius and before that the National Games and South India Championship. Now after a week’s break, they are ready for the Asia-Pacific region. In between, Mishra squeezed in two days of caddying for Swedish player Caroline Hedwall, a six-time winner, at the Hero Women’s Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club, where he is part of the ‘Excellence Programme’. “I learned a lot watching an experienced player like Caroline Hedwall play so closely,” said Mishra, whose coach Anitya Chand was part of the team that ran the Women’s Indian Open.
Talking about a busy schedule, Bhattacharya smiles and adds, “We all try to play as much as we can. Aryan (Roopa Anand) has probably done most of the traveling among us. He played in Chandigarh in the Jeev Invitational as an amateur and then went to his hometown, Bangalore, and now flying to Bangkok.” Gupta is flying in from Dubai, where he lives, while Chopraa is flying in from the US, where he is a freshman at Long Beach State University.
Thomas, who came so close to winning this marquee event, is now a senior at Oklahoma State University and wants to take that trophy once before turning pro, while Soni is desperate to make up for the disappointment of 2021, when he suffered food poisoning. He still played and made the cut, finishing 41st. Roopa Anand and Gupta missed the cut and now want to make amends.
So, no matter how young they are, they all want to learn everything they can as amateurs before reaching the professional ranks. (ANI)
Source: sn.dk