Hyderabad, Aug 31 (Golf news): Top golfers, including defending champion and Tokyo-returned Udayan Mane and former Asian tour winners Rashid Khan and Khalin Joshi, will vie for honours when the Golconda Masters Telangana Open tees off here on Thursday.
The tournament, which will kick-start the domestic season after a five-month gap forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, will witness participation from 129 golfers — 123 professionals and six amateurs.
Mane (2018 & 2020 winner), who had competed at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this month, will headline the field which also includes PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, Viraj Madappa and Aman Raj as well as other leading players such as former champions Chikkarangappa S (2019 winner) and Harendra Gupta (2015 winner).
The foreign challenge will be led by the Bangladeshi duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain.
The local challenge will be led by Haider Hussain, Mohd Azhar, Venkkat Gautham, Rupinder Singh Gill and Sanjay Kumar Singh as well as amateurs such as Hardik S Chawda, Tarun Ajay, Tej Gangavarapu, Sankeerth Nidadavolu and Milind Soni.
Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, "We're excited about resuming the 2020-21 TATA Steel PGTI season with the Golconda Masters Telangana Open 2021 Presented by Vooty & Haldi.
"We are extremely thankful to Hyderabad Golf Association, Vooty Golf County, Haldi Golf County, Telangana Tourism, Incredible India, Skoda and Apollo Hospitals, for their kind cooperation and support towards our cause.
"The Golconda Masters Telangana Open has emerged as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the PGTI over the last seven years and we're confident the event will continue to be a catalyst in helping grow the popularity of the sport in Telangana and will boost golf tourism in the state." The tournament will be held at the Hyderabad Golf Club.
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News Source: PTI
