Asian Tour is back again
The Bangladeshi golfers will be looking to shrug off the frustrating performance from the last year and take full advantage of the familiar conditions and favourable weather at the Kurmitola Golf Club when the Bashundhara Bangladesh Open gets underway today.
A total of 31 golfers from Bangladesh, including five amateurs, will be competing alongside 137 golfers from the region for the 300,000-dollar Asian Tour event, to be held here for the second time.
The local field will be spearheaded by two-time Asian Tour winner Siddikur Rahman while the likes of Shakhawat Hossain Sohel, Dulal Hossain, Jamal Mollah and Sajib Ali will also be in focus.
However, last year only six Bangladeshi golfers made the cut, with Sohel finishing as the best local performer (19th position at two-under-par).
This time, though, the locals are hoping for a much better show as they feel the weather this time would suit them and that they have got used to the alterations made to the course ahead of the inaugural edition.
Siddikur said that playing in front of the home crowd will be an added advantage for himself and his compatriots.
"It's always an advantage playing at home and in front of your home crowd. It's a motivation for me to do well. This is the second time that we have an Asian Tour event here and I hope to give the local fans something to cheer about this week. I played some good golf this morning in the pro-am tournament. The game's feeling good and I am very excited," said Siddikur, who returned from Myanmar on Monday night after taking part in the Leopalace Myanmar Open.
Siddikur admitted that he has to put the pressure off himself should he wish to better his results from the last year.
"It's a pity I didn't get a good result last year. I think I gave myself too much pressure. I was too focused on winning the tournament. I will try to stay relax this time. The weather's perfect this week and the course is in good conditions. It's going to be a good challenge and I am looking forward to it," added Siddikur.
Sajib Ali, a promising prospect and one of the six Bangladeshis to make the cut last time around, felt the performance of the locals should be much better this time compared to the last.
"The last time was during the rains and we are not quite used to playing in rain. This time, though, the weather will be perfect for us. And in the meantime we have got used to the course alterations that were made ahead of the inaugural edition. So we should be doing much better," said Sajib, who too finished tied-38th last time around.
The one disappointing aspect of the event, though, is the absence of last year's champion Maradan Mamat. The official version is Mamat's father is ill, even though it is widely believed that the Singaporean has taken a week off to get himself ready for next week's Maybank Championship Malaysia, which is a three-million-dollar event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour.
Despite Mamat's absence, the overall cast has remained quite competitive, with some big names from the region taking part.
Last edition's joint runners-up Khalin Joshi and Soomin Lee, last edition's fourth-place-finisher Carlos Pigem, Asian Tour's most successful golfer Thaworn Wiratchant, Asian Development Tour's Order of Merit winner Casey O' Toole, Asian Tour Qualifying School champion Ye Keun Chang, PGTI Order of Merit winner S Chikkarangappa, and Indian stalwarts Rahil Gangjee and Gaganjeet Bhullar are a few participants who will be eyeing the approximately 18,000-dollar champion's prize purse.
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