The winning team: (from left) Harvinpal, Tranjit, Melvinash, Amritpal, Sarnjit, Maninderjit and Inderdip Pal.
FORMER hockey Olympian Maninderjit Singh took up golf during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it paid off.
Popularly known as “Mike” to his teammates, he helped Selangor win the team title in the 71st Sikh Festival of Sports in Johor Baru.
The 11-handicapper was thrilled to bits as Selangor took the inter-state team title with a gross score of 575 to nudge Perak into second place with 577.
Pahang was third place with 586 in the two-day competition held at the Forest City Golf Resort.
“It is always special to win something on your debut. Helping Selangor win the team title is certainly encouraging. You will see me more on golf courses from now on,” said Maninderjit.
Selangor golfers also enjoyed success in the individual events when Melvinash Singh scored 154 for the gross title. Perak’s Dalgit Singh and Sushminder Singh of Singapore finished second and third respectively with scores of 159 and 170.
Johor’s Amargeetpal Singh won the net category with 141 against Sarawak’s Sarbjit Singh 143.
Perak’s Nickhil Singh took third place with a score of 144 on countback.
In the women’s category, Perak’s Ashwin Kaur, with a handicap of seven, was a runaway winner on 146 while Kuljinder Kaur from Selangor was a distant second with a 219 total.
Ashwin’s total score also landed her the Asia-Pacific individual title.
Malaysia won the Asia-Pacific men’s team title against Indonesia, Singapore and Australia.
This is the first time the Asia-Pacific Sikhs Golf championship has been held concurrently with the Gurdwara Cup.
