Karan takes stroke play honours

Bengaluru: Unheralded Karan Verma shot five-under 65 in the second round to take the stroke play honours in the IGU 121st All-India Amateur Golf Championship at the BPGC in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The West Bengal golfer, whose best finish on the amateur circuit was a tied ninth-place finish at the Jharkhand amateur recently, finished the 36-hole event with a total of five-under 135.Vinamra Anand (69), who shot a second straight sub-par round, finished second on four-under 136.
Overnight leader Shaurya Binu (71) of Karnataka failed to reproduce his first-round heroics and finished in a tie for the third place with Yuvraj Singh (68). Two-time reigning champion Aryan Roopa Anand shot a three-under 67 to be seeded fifth for the knockout event. Karan, who works for Infosys and looking to turn pro, was on a song from the get-go. He missed a 25-footer for eagle on the first but settled for a birdie instead.
The 24-year-old then picked up shots on the fifth, seventh and 10th holes to go to four-under. His lone blemish came on the par-4 12th hole where he overshot the green with his second shot then and missed a seven-footer for par.
Karan then had a brilliant chip-in for an eagle from just off the green for his five-under card. The Kolkata golfer will take on Ayush Pannu in the first-round match play on Thursday.
Final scores (after 36 holes): 135: Karan Verma (70, 65); 136: Vinamra Anand (67, 69); 137: Yuvraj Singh (69, 68), Shaurya Binu (66, 71); 138: Aryan Roopa Anand (71, 67), Shaurya Bhattacharya (67, 71); 139: Manjot Singh (73, 66), Akash Kumar (70, 69).