Striking Nescafe ‘Gold’ on Valentine Day

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Feb 14: Love was in the air. It was a Valentine Day and a perfect sunny day. And hold and behold! Look What? There were nearly 80 young men from Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon who were seen heading towards Golden Greens Golf Course to play the Nescafe Gold tournament. It reminded me of what Chinese Ambassador had said recently: Golf is like an imperfect girl friend. Despite many defects, one wants to go back to her again and again. How true of these “brave” young men who decided for a game on Valentine Day? One wonders what excuses they gave to their girl friends, spouses…

On arrival, 88 golfers were welcomed with delicious Oat Noodles and hot Nescafe Gold. The great taste and aroma of the coffee pumped in instant energy and the amateur golfers were ready to compete for a challenging round of golf sponsored by Nescafe Gold.

After a short briefing on the inaugural Nescafe Gold Medal Round and welcome address by Varindra Sewak, Business Manager, Nestle, the Shotgun started the game.

One beautiful couple, who were seen playing golf together on the Valentine Day, turned out to be Simi and Sunil Kochhar, Managing Director of Nestle R&D Centre.

Besides India, golfers from Japan, South Korea, America and the UK participated in the tournament.

Some of the eminent golfers spotted playing golf included Sandeep Kumar from Ministry of Finance; Rajat Chatterji of ANZ Bank; Ravi Grover, Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Golden Greens; Rajeshwar Bhutalia of Apple; Pat Casserly of British Golf Society; Brandon de Souza of Brandson de Souza Management Services; Tarun Mehrotra, President of Puri Constructions/Shipra World; Dr Sarvesh Naidu, Director of Pathways World School; Deepak Arora, Editor of TheTribuneOnline.com; and Pulak Chakraborty, Founder of twohmp.

The links layout at Golden Greens is a true test of golf. The undulating fairways make great demands on a golfer’s skill. A downhill or uphill lie awaits the golfer at every shot as the ball comes to rest either above or below the golfer’s feet. The bunkers too are Scottish deep. Land in one and a potential par can turn into a double bogey.

Despite the challenges, the scores were by and large impressive. The winners in each category played to their handicap if not better.

Kwanjin Choi was the winner with 42 points in 0-12 handicap category. Ashutosh Johri was the winner with 36 points and Runners up was Hitender Mehta in 13-18 handicap category and Myong Ja Cho was the winner with 39 points in 19-24 handicap category.

YG Song won the prize of Closest to the Pin with distance of three feet and Simran Gujral won the prize of Longest Drive with 250 yards hit.

Nestle Managing Director Sunil Kochhar; Simi Kochhar; Nestle Business Manager Varindra Sewak and Sarita Sewak from Ministry of Power gave away prizes to winners.

Saurabh Chopra, Assistant General Manger (Sales and Marketing) of Golden Greens, was the master of ceremony.

The response was overwhelming as some of the golfers were heard talking about how the tournament was well organized.

The golfers were heard recall the brand “Nescafe Gold” and appreciating the aroma of the coffee in the restaurant were the prize distribution ceremony was held. Some of them expressed their willingness to come again if they are invited in the upcoming tournaments.

On the stake were trophies for three handicap categories and goody bags
The game ended at 5:30 and it was time to award the winners

Spread over 275 acres the Golden Greens golf course is a 18 hole, 7051 yard, Par 72 layout located in Gurgaon. The course is built as a links course and is designed by Dr Martin Hawtree.

7th India-Japan Golf Cup on February 22

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI: With the objective of taking the spirit of friendship between India and Japan to greater heights, FICCI in partnership with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India (JCCII) and Embassy of Japan organises the Idia-Japan Golf Cup.

This year the 7th India-Japan Golf Cup is being held on February 22 at the ITC Classic Golf Resort, Gurgaon.

Mr. Akio Isomata, Minister (Economic & Development), Embassy of Japan in India, is participating in this tournament. Other participants include CEOs of leading Japanese and Indian companies, Members of Parliament and senior Government officials.

Some of the leading names participating in the tournament also include Dr A Didar Singh, Secretary General of FICCI and Rohit Relan, Managing Director of Bharat Seeds.

Lahiri aims for dream win at Hero Indian Open

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Feb 17: Man of the moment Anirban Lahiri hopes to fulfil his childhood dream by winning the US$1.5 million Hero Indian Open which starts on Thursday.

The Indian ace, who won the Maybank Malaysian Open two weeks ago, recalls watching Arjun Atwal win the prestigious event in 1999 and since then, it has been his goal to win his National Open.

“My first memory of the Indian Open is walking in Calcutta Golf Club when I was 12. Arjun Atwal won that event and I still remember some of the shots he hit. I was just a kid and I didn’t even play golf seriously! I thought to myself that it would be so great to be one of those guys,” said Lahiri.

Lahiri, who is the highest ranked player in the elite field where he sits in 39th position on the Official World Golf Ranking, will challenge for honours at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) against title holder Siddikur Rahman and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who returns to India for the first time since 2008.

Scott Hend of Australia, a six-time Asian Tour winner, Jyoti Randhawa, only the second player to win three Indian Open titles, Thaworn Wiratchant, Jeev Milkha Singh and Marcus Fraser will also feature in the event which is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour for the first time.

After claiming his biggest career win in Malaysia a fortnight ago, Lahiri, who won three Asian Tour titles at DGC, plans to continue the winning streak by Asian Tour members in the last four co-sanctioned events.

“We have four Asian Tour members win the last four co-sanctioned events. It will be nice to continue that streak. It is nice to have so many of our members winning events but I would like to say that I want an Indian to keep this trophy on home soil.

“This is the event you want to win as an Indian. The Indian Open is a tournament which is steep in history. Delhi Golf Club has such a fantastic history to it. It is definitely one of those events where you want to play and win it,” explained Lahiri.

The 51-year-old Jimenez made a perfect start to 2015 when he won in Hawaii on the US Champions Tour and he is ready to win his 22nd European Tour title at the Hero Indian Open. He also finished tied seventh in Thailand last week.

“I am looking forward to the week at the Delhi Golf Club. I played a few holes this morning and it is an old style course where you do not have to hit the ball 300 yards off every tee. It is much more important to be accurate from the tee and to keep the ball in the fairway because the rough can be very difficult to play from and you can get a lot of fliers,” said Jimenez.

“It’s going to be very difficult to keep the ball under control from the rough, so I think to have a chance of winning you have to be playing from the fairway. The tee shots will be the most important factor this week. If you can keep it in play off the tee then you will build the score from there,” he explained.

The 43-year-old Singh, a two-time Asian Tour number one, has won multiple titles in Asia and Europe but the Hero Indian Open trophy remains as his most sought after prize.

“I’m very excited to be back. It has been a while since I’ve come back to play at my National Open. There’s a lot of history especially on this golf course,” said Singh, whose last appearance at the Hero Indian Open was in 2008 where he finished fourth.

Singh hailed the emergence of the new generation of Indian golfers such as Lahiri and Rashid Khan and he believes more young players will break through the ranks and follow in their footsteps.

“They know what’s the right stuff for them and they work hard at it. That’s the main reason why these young players are doing well especially Anirban. In the future, I think we will see more young players coming from out of India and they will be inside the top-50 in the world,” said Singh.

IPL 2015 auction: Yuvraj Singh fetches record 16 cr, K C Cariappa surprise hit

BANGALORE, Feb 16: Flamboyant Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh set a new record as he emerged as the costliest ever buy in the Indian Premier League by going for a whopping Rs 16 crore to Delhi Daredevils in the eighth players’ auction here today while an unheralded K C Cariappa was a surprise pick in the eighth players’ auction.

In a relatively low key auction, Yuvraj triggered an unexpected bidding war with four teams vying for the 33-year-old cricketer’s services before Delhi clinched the deal for a record price.

That Yuvraj, who had been bought for Rs 14 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore last year, went for such a big price came as a huge surprise given the fact that he is no longer in the Indian team. His current form, however, has been good which could have led to the franchises showing interest in him.

“I think we learnt from last year, and that if we want a player we need to push hard for him. Hence we were prepared to go all the way with Yuvraj and it’s great for the player as well,” Delhi coach Gary Kirsten said justifying the record bid for Yuvraj.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik was another player, who commanded a massive price, going to RCB for Rs 10.50 crore at a glitzy auction attended by business bigwigs, Bollywood stars like Preity Zinta and former cricketers such as Anil Kumble, Ricky Ponting, Stephen Fleming and VVS Laxman — part of various teams’ support staff.

A 20-year-old Cariappa, an off-spinner who has not even played a first-class match, was a stunning pick by the Kolkata Knight Riders. Cariappa was bought for a Rs 2.40 crore in what was perhaps the most shocking buy in an auction where veterans such as Kumar Sangakkara went unsold despite being brought back in the pool thrice.

Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathew (Rs 7.5 crore to DD), New Zealand pacer Trent Boult (Rs 3.80 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad), Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra (Rs 3.50 crore to DD) and Australian opener Aaron Finch (Rs 3.20 crore to Mumbai Indians) were among those who fetched a good price at the auction.

Sri Lankan stalwarts Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan, Indian pacer Irfan Pathan, South African batsman Hashim Amla and New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor went unsold in the initial rounds of the auction. They might still find a buyer in the final round of bidding.

Indian pacer Zaheer Khan, who initially went unsold, suddenly saw a dramatic change in his fortunes when he was brought back in the pool as he went for a hefty Rs 4 crore to Delhi Daredevils.

In all, 88 players went under hammer, of which the franchises bought 67. 23 of the players sold today were overseas picks. The franchises shelled out Rs 87.6 crore in purchasing the players today.

Yuvraj, who carried a base price of Rs 2 crore, was sold after a fierce tug of war for his services between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who bought him last year for Rs 14 crore, at a city hotel here.

Initially, there was four-way bidding among Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils to buy India’s 2011 World Cup hero in the auction conducted by Richard Madley. But once the bidding reached Rs 7 crore, RR and KXIP quit, leaving DD and RCB in the fray.

Delhi Daredevils, who had the largest purse of Rs 39.75 crore among all the eight franchises taking part in the auction, also bought Mathews for Rs 7.5 crore, the third highest price in the first two rounds of auction.

RCB, who lost to DD in their bid to get Yuvraj and Mathews, bought Karthik for the second highest price, even though it was Rs 1.5 crore lower than the amount he was bought for by DD last year.

Surprisingly, former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who was bought for Rs 9 crore last year by DD, could get just Rs 2 crore as he was sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad at the base price.

Other players sold in the auction were India Test opener Murali Vijay for Rs 3 crore (to KXIP), England’s Eoin Morgan (Rs 1.5 crore by SRH) and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson (Rs 60 lakh by SRH).

India beat Pakistan in World Cup opener

ADELAIDE, Feb 15: Team India overcame its recent poor form and successfully defied the law of averages to extend its proud World Cup record against Pakistan to six victories without a single defeat. The defending champions hammered their arch-rivals by 76 runs — the biggest margin in a World Cup match between the two teams — to get their campaign off to a morale-boosting start.

The crushing victory was set up by man of the match Virat Kohli who continued his passionate romance with the Adelaide Oval, scoring his fourth century in only his seventh innings here. Already, Adelaide has become Kohli's happy hunting ground in the same way that Sydney was for Sachin Tendulkar, Port of Spain for Sunil Gavaskar and Eden Gardens for VVS Laxman.

Kohli had been below par in the recently concluded tri-series and warm-up matches, but he usually reserves his best for the big stage and they don't come any larger than this. He offered two chances - at 3 and 76 - but apart from that, there was almost a sense of inevitability as he serenely cruised to 107 off 128 deliveries.

It's not only the first century scored by an Indian in a Cup match against Pakistan, but also the highest score by a player from either side in an India-Pakistan World Cup game.

Kohli now has 22 ODI centuries and is joint second with Sourav Ganguly for most ODI tons scored by an Indian. Already hailed as an all-time ODI great by the likes of Viv Richards, he is bound to score many more tons, but few will be able to match this one for significance.

There was lots more for India to feel good about. Shikhar Dhawan (73 off 76 balls) and Suresh Raina (74 off 56 balls), who had both been struggling for form going into this match, clicked when it mattered and helped set up India for a big score.

The team stuttered towards the end, losing 5 wickets and scoring just 25 runs in the last 5 overs, but the momentum built up by the top order was enough to propel the score to 300/7 - a record for an India-Pakistan World Cup game.

72 Tigers Compete For Saha Groupe Golf Cup

By Deepak Arora

GURGAON, Feb 7: It was a glorious Saturday and much-awaited Day of Polling in New Delhi. While the election officials and cadres of different political parties had woken up as early as 5 AM, but there was a different kind of excitement amongst 70-odd “Tigers”.

These people from Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon had woken up early morning to commence their journey to Golden Greens Golf Resort in Manesar to participate in the First Edition of Tigers Cup, organized by GolfLan in collaboration with Saha Groupe. They wanted to keep their date with ‘Golf First and Vote Later’.

By 7 am, there was palpable excitement at the Golden Green Golf Resort that is in midst of the picturesque Aravalli ranges. Golden Green is the only Championship Link Golf Course in the country. It is difficult, tough and challenging course. That’s why it is meant only for the class of Tigers.

After a smooth registration where all the 72 golfers received a goody bag hampers that also contained a trophy (memento) from the Saha Groupe that is known for luxury residential and commercial spaces with sustainable development (Mantra of US President Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saha Groupe Chairman Aniel Kuumar Saha).

The memento in the shape of a crystal golf ball placed on a wooden stand already made all the Tigers happy and encouraged them to work towards winning the bigger sized trophies of the tournament.

After a quick breakfast and a group photograph, all the Tigers were transported in the golf carts to their respective holes to commence the game on the basis of the Stableford (80% handicap) format.

It was competitive game and witnessed a lot of see-sawing hole to hole. The Golden Green Golf Course is known to break the best of the best. However, the spirit of the golfers was high and this see-sawing was taken in the best of spirits. The fight was close.

The winner of the Tigers Cup was Vikram Parasar and the Runner’s Up was Nadeem Khan.

The Closest to the Pin prize was bagged by Sunil Bhatia and the winner of the Longest Drive was Rajat Nandrajog.

Saha Groupe Director Aunirban Saha presented the trophies to the winners.

It may be mentioned that the Tigers Cup was sponsored by the Saha Groupe who were showcasing their much-talked about Amadeus project in Noida.

This was the first golf tournament sponsored by Rs 300-crore Saha Groupe. Lauding GolfLan for organizing the event exceeding well, Director Aunirban Saha said “it went beyond our expectations. It was so good to meet top honchos and talented golfers at one place. It gave a pleasant and good start to my day.”

Aunirban said his father and Chairman and Managing Director of Saha Groupe Aniel Kuumar Saha has been a good golfer and sportsman. “The Chairman likes to promote anything that promotes teamwork. We have been promoting football. And now we have decided to promote golf too,” added Auniban.

He said “Passion, Vision and Innovation are the hallmark of Saha Groupe and this is reflected in our residential and commercial spaces that we build.”

The tournament also witnessed a junior inclusion where the youngest participant was 8-year-old Raghav Ranjan Verma, a Class 3 student of DPS, Sushant Lok, Gurgaon.

The 14-year-old Master Hardik Mehta, who braved the course, won the Best Kid Golfer prize. This augers well for Golf as GolfLan CEO Dhruv Verma encourages budding youngsters to come out there and express their talent.

Master Hardik Mehta, who is a Class 8 student of DAV Public School in Gurgaon, picked-up Golf in early 2013 at the age of 12. His first competition was at TERI Children Golf Tournament held in December 2013, where he won the Longest Drive award. His first major achievement in Golf came in the following year when he bagged the prize of Children’s Runner-up in the 9th Annual Teri Golf Tournament 2014 (ATGT-2014) held in November last year.

While expressing his support and encouragement to young budding golfers, GolfLan CEO Dhruv Verma asked the young generation to come out and expose their talent to the world at large on the golf courses.

Dhruv Verma also shared his vision of making GolfLAN a globally known brand in the golfing fraternity and the golfing world.

The event also witnessed participation from two ladies, Edith Hummel from Germany and Navita Mansingh, who decided to rub shoulders with the men, stroke for stroke.

Some of the leading golfers who participated in the tournament included Ozone Overseas Managing Director Alok Aggarwal, Bonton Cables Director Rajat Nandrajog, Director of Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises S.K. Goyal, Vice President GDF Suez Ranjith Nair, Director of Future Edge Vikram Parasar, Associate Vice President of Wipro Gurpreet Singh Bajwa, Hitender Mehra of Vaish Law, Vice President of Renew Power Avneet S.Vohra, Editor of TheTribuneOnline.com Deepak Arora, Director of ALVI India S.K.Gupta, IBM General Manager Sagnik Kanjilal, and Director of Context Technolgies Gary Sandhu.

Soon after the prize ceremony and lunch, the players rushed to Delhi to vote for their favourite candidates.

Ambassador Le Yucheng Opens China India Golf Trophy

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Jan 31:

It was a fine Saturday morning. After several days of chilly weather, the Sun God had come out and spread its warmth on the Qutab Golf Course in Delhi where nearly 100 players had gathered to participate in the first-ever China India Golf Trophy.

All the players had received a gift of a cap and a jacket that prominently displayed China and India Flags that showed new bonhomie between the two countries.

The Chinese Ambassador Le Yucheng initiated the China India Golf Trophy to further strengthen the relations between the two culturally rich ancient civilisations.

While inaugurating the tournament, Ambassador Le Yucheng said "Golf is a great icebreaker creating bonds between people and it is our privelage to initiate this event to be played between Chinese and Indian golfers."

The Ambassador said "We will make this event into an annual feature. India is a focus country for us for business and this light hearted interaction works really well."

Ambassador Le Yucheng said "golf is like a girlfriend with so many defects. But still you want to come back to it."

Shubham Narain was the Winner Gross and the Runners up Gross was Aryadev Khurana.

Amongst the Ladies, Neelam Pratap Rudy was the Winner Gross and Geeta Rai was the Runners Up.

While Cai Liqun , Chief Executive Officer Huawei was the winner from the Chinese side and Deng Xiaoming was the Runners Up.

The Indian Winner Nett was Anurag Chopra and Rahul Banerjee was the Runners Up Nett.

A hole in one on a par 4 by Aryadev Khurana added to the excitement of the event.

While Sanjay Sachdeva won a hamper for being Closest to the Pin, Vijay Mohan won the prize for Straightest Drive.

B Srinivas Kumar bagger the prize for the Longest Drive.

The tournament saw participation from a number of Chinese and Indian CEO’s and senior corporate including government officials.

some of the prominent persons who participated in the tournament included Ambassador Le Yucheng, India's leading golfer Neelam Pratap Rudy, CEO Huawei India Cai Liqun, EIL Chairman and Managing Director A. K. Purwaha and Income Tax Commissioner R S Rawal.

The other eminent persons included Karma Lakelands Owner Ashwani Khurana, SBJ Director Mannoj Mehrra, TheTribuneOnline Diplomatic Editor Deepak Arora and Partner Vaish Associates Hitender Mehta.

on the tournament eve, Chinese Ambassador Le Yucheng hosted a gala dinner at his residence. The Ambassador Le Yucheng along with Union Tourism Secretary Dr Lalit K Panwar and Additional Secretary Girish Shankar unveiled the Trophy.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Lalit Panwar emphasized the importance of the relations between the two countries and the need to boost people-to-people ties.

The highlight of the evening was a cultural presentation by the a Chinese troupe and a troupe of children.

The ambassador also treated the guests to delicacies from his personal kitchen. The dinner was attended by a number of prominent Indian and Chinese business owners and CEO’s.

Presented by Huawei, the telecom giant of China and supported by the China India Chamber of Commerce, Yes Bank, Sara Textile, AIPL and SLW, the event also marked the launch of the China India Business, Investment and Incubation Centre.

Qutab Golf Course is the first public Golf Course in India. Design and Developed by the Delhi Development authority, the Qutab Golf Course launched with 9 holes in January 2000. In May 2002, this Golf Course was extended into a 18 hole Golf Course.

There is a 250 yards, state of art driving range in the golf course.

World Cup 2015 team: Jadeja, Patel, Stuart among the chosen 15

MUMBAI, Jan 6: Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, still recovering from a shoulder injury, and young left-arm spinner Axar Patel were today included in India's 15-member squad for the cricket World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand from next month.

The five-man selection panel, however, ignored Yuvraj Singh, who was not in the list of the 30-member probables but had come into reckoning after his three back-to-back centuries in the Ranji Trophy.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan, who struggled in the ongoing Test series against Australia, and all-rounder Stuart Binny, who bowls medium pace and has played six one-day internationals for India, have also been retained in the squad for the high-profile event to be held from February 14 to March 29.

The squad, to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni had no major surprises with the selectors opting to go with four specialist pace bowlers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav - considering the pacy wickets in Australia and New Zealand.

Paceman Ishant Sharma was rested for the ongoing fourth and final test against Australia in Sydney with a knee problem but is expected to be fit soon.

"Ishant has a temporary injury with which he is doing well. But he has been advised by our present physio not to play the current test. He will be fit for the Tri-series," Patel added.

20-year-old Axar Patel, who has made a reasonably good impression in the few ODIs he has played, was expectedly picked in the squad, considering that Jadeja's fitness could be an issue.

The selectors have however taken some risk in picking Jadeja in the squad but Patel expressed confidence that the all-rounder will be fully fit before the biggest cricket tournament.

"Jadeja at present is undergoing rehabilitation programme. He is doing wonderfully well. We had detailed discussion with BCCI physio (on his inclusion) and we are confident that he will return to training within 10 days," Patel said on Jadeja's fitness.

Yuvraj, man of the tournament in the last World Cup, came up for discussion in the selection meeting despite him not being part of the 30-man probables.

"Not only Yuvraj Singh but other names were also discussed apart from the 30 probables. There were deliberations between five selectors and captain Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher were on the conference call," Patel said.

In 2011, India won the 50-over World Cup for the second time when they hosted the quadrennial event with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The selectors also announced the team for the tri-series to follow the Test matches in Australia. Hosts Australia, India and England will compete in the tri-series.

Apart from the 15 selected for the World Cup, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Sharma have been included.

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane can perform the role of the opener while Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rayudu and Dhoni will bat in the middle order.

The squad has three spinners in R Ashwin, Patel and Jadeja though it is highly unlikely that more than two spinners will be in the playing XI during the matches.

Despite the failures of Dhawan, particularly in the Tests, the selectors have reposed faith in the left-handed opener.

The World Cup will be staged in Australia and New Zealand from February 14 to March 29.|

The final World Cup squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virat Kohli (vice-captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.