Sir Padampat Singhania Open from Wednesday

The Hero Honda Golf Tour returns to the Noida Golf Club course with the Rs 600,000 Sir Padampat Singhania Open - 2002, to be played from the February 20 to 23.

The tournament, which marks the 20th leg of the Hero Hond Golf Tour, finds its way back to the Noida Golf Course after a one-time stint at the Army Golf Course, Dhaulakuan. The tournament is being sponsored by the Sir Padampat Sports Academy and managed by the Delhi based Tiger Sports Marketing.

"We are thrilled to sponsor yet another edition of the Sir Padampat Singhania Open," said Mr. G H Singhania, director J K Organization. "The main aim of the Sir Padampat Sports Academy is to promote sport throughout the country. Golf is the fastest growing sport in this part of the world and we are committed to contribute to its growth through this tournament," he added.

"I am really looking forward to the Sir Padampat Singhania Open," said defending champion SSP Chowrasia, who returned the first win of the professional career at this very tournament last February. "The win was a tremendous confidence booster and changed my entire outlook towards the game. There would be nothing better than a successful title defence here,' added the Kolkata golfer.

The tournament will also witness a renewal of the battle for supremacy between Mukesh Kumar and Feroz Ali. Mukesh, who has wins at the TNGF Open (Chennai), Sher-e-Kashmir Open (Srinagar), Servo Masters (Digboi) and the Royal Challenge Grand Prix (Mumbai) to his credit this season, leads the Money List with his season's earnings standing at a staggering Rs 14,92,825.

Feroz Ali, who too has four wins to his credit this season at the Surya Nepal Masters (Kathmandu), Hero Honda Open - Pune, HT-Pro Golf 2002 (Greater Noida) and the Dutch Bangla Bank Bangladesh Open (Dhaka) tallies Rs 10,96,875. However, Feroz is just 60 points behind Mukesh on the points tally, which will determine the winner of the 'Mahindra Champion Golfer of the Year' award and the accompanying prize cheque of Rs One million.

A full field is scheduled to participate in the event including such prominent names as defending champion Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia; top two ranked golfers on the Hero Honda Golf Tour's Money List, and winner of four tournaments each this season, Mukesh Kumar and Feroz Ali; twice Indian Open winner, Ali Sher; front-runner for the 'Rookie of the Year' award for the 2001-02 season, Rahil Gangjee; 'Rookie of the Year' for the 2000-01 season, Rahul Ganapathy; winner of over 100 tournaments in a career spanning over 35 years, Rohtas Singh; winner of the Hyundai-MGC Open 2001, Zai Kipgen; Hindu-Cosmo Open champion, Yusuf Ali; Cotton City Open winner, Shiv Prakash and a number of other talented youngsters like Digvijay Singh and Jaiveer Virk.