Dahiya best placed Indian at tied 28th after round 1 of WATC golf

Singapore, Oct 8 (PTI) Rakshit Dahiya carded an even-par 72 in testing conditions to finish as the best-placed Indian at tied 28th in the opening round of the World Amateur Team Championship (WATC) for the Eisenhower Trophy here on Wednesday.

The Delhi NCR Cup 2025 winner was seven strokes behind leader Hiroshi Hirahara Tai of Singapore at the Tanah Merah Country Club.

Team India ended the opening day in tied 18th position among 36 nations in the overall standings.

Part of the three-member team sent by the Indian Golf Union (IGU), Dahiya didn't have a desired start to his WATC campaign, with bogeys on the second and fifth holes. But he made amends by having birdies on the 12th, 16th and 17th holes.

However, a bogey on the finishing hole meant he slipped more than 10 places on the leaderboard.

"I could have finished higher but nevertheless it is a decent start. The conditions were tough to say the least. But I managed to keep it at even-par. Tomorrow, I will focus more on avoiding as many mistakes as possible and keeping the ball on the right spot in the fairway," Dahiya said.

Another Indian, Deepak Yadav registered a modest card of one-over 73 to end in joint 35th position.

Yadav sank a birdie on the first hole itself and then picked another shot on the sixth hole to end the front nine at two-under-par. He went up as high as three-under-par till the 11th hole before stumbling upon bogeys on the 13th and 14th holes in addition to a double bogey on the 15th for his eventual tally.

Arin Ahuja also had a topsy-turvy round with two birdies and five bogeys that derailed his campaign. He was placed tied 67th with overall score of 3-over 75. PTI SSC SSC PDS PDS