The 18th Inter-School Golf Championship, organised by Protouch Sports with My Kolkata as digital media partner, concluded on October 27 at Tollygunge Club, with The Heritage School and La Martiniere for Girls winning in the most sought-after categories after two days of exhilarating action. As the largest and oldest junior golf competition in the country, the 2022 edition of the tournament featured 120 young golfers across six different categories.
In the over-13 overall category, Anshul Mishra and Dishan Ghosh, last year’s runners-up from The Heritage School, went one better to taste victory, finishing on 131. This was marginally better than the 133 shot by Suveer Kapoor and Ramayush Ray of La Martiniere for Boys, who had to settle for second. In third position was another La Martiniere for Boys team of Gurmehr Bindra and Rudraksha Banerjee, who ended on 135. “We feel very happy and proud to have represented our school and won this tournament. It’s a product of our hard work and dedication and after missing out in the past, this win feels extremely satisfying,” said the winners.
In the over-13 girls’ category, La Martiniere for Girls rose above the field with the team of Anaahat Bindra and Anamika Chakravarty, who finished on 142. Behind them in second position was Modern High School for Girls, represented by Anika Fatehpuria and Anoushka Dasgupta, who closed out on 177. With a tally of 179, La Martiniere for Girls’ Petra Law and Prisha Poddar finished third. “With this win, we’ve managed to get a hat-trick at this tournament, which makes us extremely proud and happy. We probably had it slightly easier this time than previous years, but still enjoyed playing here as much as before,” said Anaahat Bindra from the winning team.
All the winners from the Inter-School Golf Championship
In the under-13 overall category, Calcutta International School’s Hredaan Raj Bihani and Varish Mohta emerged victorious, with a tally of 149, narrowly ahead of the 150 accumulated by La Martiniere for Boys’ Manan Bagrecha and Krishiv Rungta in second spot. In third place was another team from LMB in the form of Aryaveer Agarwal and Arghya Shah, who finished on 162. “We’ve participated together in four consecutive editions and won them all. We enjoyed this win the most because it felt the most challenging due to the competition involved,” said the category's champions.
In the under-13 girls’ category, Julinka Roy Chowdhury from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan sealed the win with a total of 175, one clear of Ishikha Bansal and Samaira Chitlangia from La Martiniere for Girls in second. Delhi Public School Megacity’s Nahida Parvin came third on 201. “I’ve been playing golf for seven years now, and this is the first time that I’ve won this tournament. I want to thank my mother and my school for their ample support and I hope to take up golf as a career in the future,” said Julinka.
The tournament featured 120 players across six different categories
In the under-nine overall category, La Martiniere for Boys’ Priyansh Dhandhania and Ayaan Mimani prevailed, with a combined total of 79 across two days. Modern High School’s Vaanyaa Rustagi and Vaasvi Himatsingka finished second on 88, followed by Dolna Day School’s Ayushman Sana on 90 in third. “We had a lot of fun playing in this tournament and have been playing for two (Priyansh) and four years (Ayaan), respectively. We want to represent India at the highest level someday,” said the winners.
In the under-nine girls category, Modern High School’s Vaanyaa Rustagi and Vaasvi Himatsingka came out on top, on 88, with two teams from Calcutta International School — the duos of Ahana Khaitan and Saesha Vohra as well as Arshiya Gupta and Soraiya Singh on 108 and 115, respectively — rounding off the podium. “This was the second time we’ve participated and also the second time we’ve won. We both try to play golf for at least an hour, three to four times a week. It’s a sport that makes us really happy,” said the MHS team.
Indrajit Bhalotia speaking at the prize distribution ceremony
The prize distribution ceremony took place at Tollygunge Club’s Yule Hall and was attended by golfing icon Indrajit Bhalotia; Deep Banerjee, golf captain, Tollygunge Club; Anil Mukerji, chief executive and managing member, Tollygunge Club; Sujoy Banerjee, vice president, Tollygunge Club; Sanjiv Dhir, president, Tollygunge Club; Sumitra Ray, student programme advisor, Prabha Khaitan Foundation; and Sreyon Chatterjee, vice captain, Tollygunge Club.
“The idea behind starting this tournament was to incorporate golf into the sporting culture of schools, which mostly focused on cricket, football and tennis at the time. It gives me great personal satisfaction that through this tournament we’ve helped children embrace their passion for golf and have their schools accept and encourage them for it,” said Indrajit Bhalotia.
Sumitra Ray
“It’s been a great opportunity for us to associate with this tournament, since sporting activities are an important part of engaging children for us, just as we do through our various cultural events at Prabha Khaitan Foundation. This tournament has been a wonderful initiative for so many years, and I’d like to congratulate Mr Bhalotia and Protouch for another successful edition,” said Sumitra Ray.
The 18th Inter-School Golf Championship was in partnership with Muskaan, a pan-India initiative of Prabha Khaitan Foundation (PKF) and the Education For All Trust aimed at promoting skill development among children through webinars, courses and workshops. Muskaan seeks to popularise culture and heritage literature among the Indian youth by weaving it into the formal and informal education system. The outdoor media partner for the competition was Balaji Ads and the tournament was organised and managed by Protouch Sports.