Chandigarh Golf League: Defending champions Captain’s 18, Chandigarh Gladiators surge ahead to quarters

Defending champions Captain’s 18 blanked Fairway Comets 7-0 while Chandigarh Gladiators kept up their winning streak by beating Green Gators 4.5-2.5 to enter the quarter-finals of the third Chandigarh Golf League at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Sunday.
In a nail-biter match, Golf Ninjas managed to outclass Punjab Aces after a three-hole playoff. The Mulligans pipped Netsmartz Tigers 4-3 to progress to the quarter-finals.
For Captain’s 18, Padamjit Sandhu 6&4 and Randeep Singh 4&2 won their singles games. With the Comets putting the onus on their four-ball pairs, it became a task for them having to win four out of five games. Kanwal Bajwa and Pukhraj Singh Brar put up the third point quickly with a 7&5 win, while Indervir Singh Atwal and Brig KJS Puri sealed the match with a 4&3 win.
The Golf Ninjas, playing after a week’s break, faced off higher seed Punjab Aces, and the match went neck and neck all the way through. As pressure in the high-stakes game built up, a missed putt caused the match to go into a three-hole playoff.
The singles were split with Girish Virk and Rupinder Singh winning 4&2 respectively. The four-ball games went two a piece, courtesy Balpreet Ghuman and Shiv Sekhon’s 4&2 win for the Aces and Vikram Bhagwan-Dalip Kang’s 4&3 win for the Ninjas.
With the Ninjas leading in the second four-ball game, they missed a crucial putt to close the match. The playoff saw Girish Virk and Amarinder Bindra square off against Balpreet Ghuman and Rupinder Singh. After squaring the first hole, Ninjas won the second and halved the third to prevail in the tight contest.
Facing the top-form Gladiators for the second match in last three days, the Green Gators had less clue about the singles games. Col SDS Batth and Col Narjit Singh won their games comfortably 4&3 and 5&4, respectively. Once Dalbir Randhawa and Harjeet Singh, along with Col VP Singh-Lt Gen BS Sachar pair, put the points on the board, the Gladiators romped home and will face the Hunting Hawks in their quarter-final tie.
Having made it through to the knockouts by winning their last match comprehensively, Mulligans edged past the Netsmartz Tigers by winning their singles. Angad Sangha and Bismad Singh put up the first two points, which were matched by Tigers pairs Sangram Singh-Jaswant Khaira and Varun Rao-Akshay Verma. Two other games were split either side of Amrinder Singh and Jaskeerat Kaur Matharoo’s 1 Up win on the final hole.
The quarter-finals will be played on Tuesday with the Hunting Hawks taking on Chandigarh Gladiators in the first quarter final, followed by Tee Birds playing Captain’s 18. Sultans of Swing will face Mulligans, while Partee Panthers will lock horns with Golf Ninjas. Four winners of the day will march to the semi-finals.
Results
Pre-quarterfinals
Chandigarh Gladiators 4.5-2.5 Green Gators
Fairway Comets 0-7 Captain’s 18
Mulligans 4-3 Netsmartz Tigers
Punjab Aces 3.5-3.5 Golf Ninjas; Golf Ninjas won in a three hole playoff.