Golf trials today and tomorrow for Bangladesh championship

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka Golf (SLG) will hold trials today (08) and tomorrow at the Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC) for the 37th Bangladesh Amateur Golf Championship. This event is set to take place from January 31 to February 3 at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The primary aim of these trials is to identify two top players to represent Sri Lanka in the championship. To be eligible for selection, players must achieve a gross score of three over par or less on each trial day, a criteria firmly emphasised by Sri Lanka Golf.

Among the contenders was Chilatha Pushpika, who showcased an exceptional performance by securing the 11th position in both tournaments during the recent two Malaysian tours. The selection process takes into account scores from Sri Lankan golf tournaments in the past two months and overseas tournaments in the past four months. For the 2023 Bangladesh Open, Sri Lanka Golf was represented by Chalitha Pushpika and Reshan Algama, both of whom made the cut.

The eleven players participating in the trials include Junior Open winner Jevahn Sathasivam, Kumar Danushan, Chanaka Perera, Chalitha Pushpika, Uchitha Ranasinghe, Kvahn Tejwani, Yannik Kumara, Roshana Prerera, Janeesh Weerasinghe, Thenuk Sathnidu, and Adithya Weerasinghe. Jevahn Sathasivam, Chanaka Perera, and Yannik Kumara are the leading golfers for this event.

Notably, Reshan, a prominent young golfer and winner of the November National Ranking Tournament and a world-ranked player, has chosen not to enter the trials, citing academic commitments as confirmed by Sri Lanka Golf.

In the girls event, Kaya Daluwatte, the leading 15-year-old, will miss out on this event due to her prior commitments as she will be playing in a WAGA ranking tournament on the same day in Thailand. So very likely, SLG will send only two men to this event in Bangladesh.