Two-time champion SSP Chawrasia denied Indian Open spot

Published at :March 27, 2024 at 1:18 PM

Modified at :March 27, 2024 at 2:38 PM

(Courtesy : File Pic)

Title sponsors Hero MotoCorp decided to award spots to lower-ranked Shiv Kapur and out-of-form pros Anirban Lahiri and Ajeetesh Sandhu instead of Chawrasia.

The Indian challenge at the upcoming Hero Indian Open that begins on Thursday will be weaker as the last professional to win the prestigious title – SSP Chawrasia – has been denied a spot to participate in the $2.25 million event.

Chawrasia won back-to-back Indian Open titles in 2016 (at the Delhi Golf Club) and 2017 the current host venue – DLF Golf & Country Club – and is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished Indian professionals with four European Tour, rechristened DP World Tour, titles in his bag, at par with the legendary Jeev Milkha Singh.

He is also the winner of the 2008 Emaar-MGF Indian Masters and 2011 Avantha Masters on the DP World Tour besides the 2014 Panasonic Open India and 2016 Resorts World Manila Masters trophies on the Asian Tour. Chawrasia was a runner-up in the Indian Open on four occasions – 1999, 2006, 2013 and 2015.

His world rankings have plummeted to 1209th, however, Chawrasia with his brilliant short game that earned him the nickname ‘Chip-putt-sia’ is a force to reckon with whenever he is playing in the National Open.

A total of 35 spots were awarded to the hosts – including six professional tournament invitations (Category 6a) from title sponsors Hero MotoCorp and four amateur invitations (Category 6b) from promoters Indian Golf Union (IGU) and 25 spots from the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).

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Chawrasia’s pleas for inclusion in the tournament went unanswered by both the title sponsors and the Organising Committee chairman S.K. Sharma.

“This is a huge tragedy that a player of Chawrasia’s stature is not playing in the Indian Open. He won the title in 2017 at DLF course in commanding fashion, represented India in the 2016 Rio Olympics and even been an Arjuna awardee, still the sponsors chose not to give him a spot, which is totally unfair. This is a huge loss for Indian golf fans who want to see their best players compete in an event like this,” a fan told Khel Now.

The sponsors chose to award the six spots under Category 6a to LIV Golf regular Anirban Lahiri, Ajeetesh Sandhu (ranked 824th), Shiv Kapur (ranked 1386th), Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, England’s Laurie Canter and Kazuma Kobori of New Zealand.

Another golf fan remarked: “No agreement has been reached between the DP World Tour and LIV Golf, still the organisers gave a spot to Lahiri. Both Shiv Kapur and Ajeetesh Sandhu are out of form. One can say that Chawrasia has also not had good amount of success of late. However, his past record in the Indian Open is the best among the four and that’s enough to consider him.”

Interestingly, Lahiri is a 2015 Indian Open champion but his candidature was affirmed last minute as he plays on the rebel Saudi-funded series. However, Sandhu’s inclusion raised eyebrows as he had just one top-10 finish from 17 starts on the Asian Tour last year, including seven missed cuts. The Chandigarh-based pro has not made the weekend rounds in the three events he has played so far in the 2024 season. But Sandhu seems to be close to the Organising Committee chairman SK Sharma, who is the new Chandigarh Golf Association president and an IGU governing council member.

Similarly, Shiv Kapur is ranked much lower than Chawrasia and is coming back from an injury layoff. Kapur played just 13 events on the Asian Tour last year without a single top-10 result, making the weekend rounds only on six occasions. He hasn’t had a good 2024 season till now, missing the cut once from two starts. But Kapur has been a brand ambassador for Hero MotoCorp and that would have turned tables in his favour.

The sponsors could have easily awarded a spot to a super achiever like Chawrasia. However, they had their own reasons not to do so.

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