India finishes ninth at Nomura Cup, Aman Raj grabs incredible fifth

ABU DHABI: Indian team led by Patna's Aman Raj, current leader of the IGU men amateur order of merit, finished 9th on the final day of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship, Nomura Cup here today.

Raj's four days total of 10-under 278 played a big role in India collecting the team total of one-under 863 (218, 219, 210, 216) while his teammates Samarth Dwivedi, Rahul Ravi and Harimohan Singh, IGU ranked 3rd, 5th and 7th respectively, struggled to put up a low score throughout the week.

The lowest three scores of the four count towards the team total in each round.

The Japanese team edged out Chinese Taipei to win the 27th Nomura Cup title in a nail biting count back finish at the Yas Links Golf Club.

In the individual category, 19-year-old Raj who was the second best finisher at the Asia-Pacific amateur championship last year, kept getting better from first day's tied 9th position and finally grabbed the 5th position after shooting two-under 70 on the final day.

Bangalore's Samarth Dwivedi, 22, who was part of the Indian contingent at the Incheon Asian Games last year, carded two-over 74 for a total of three-over 291 to finish tied 26th.

Delhi's Harimohan Singh (301) and Bengaluru's Rahul Ravi (315) again disappointed and finished tied 51st and tied 72nd respectively in the biennial event that had 27 countries and 108 players participating.