Siddikur eyes Dhaka Open title
Bangladesh's premier golfer Siddikur Rahman will be looking to stoke some old memories when he embarks on the tri-sanctioned City Bank American Express Dhaka Open teeing off at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka today.
The 33-year-old golfer won the first and only Asian Development Tour (ADT) event held at home soil seven years ago, by a massive margin of 12 strokes. The two-time Asian Tour winner had also won the last Professional Golf Tour India (PGTI) event held in Bangladesh last year in the Chittagong Open 2017, by six strokes. Hence he is full of confidence as he takes the field as the highest-profile local golfer in the season opener, which has been tri-sanctioned by the ADT, PGTI and Bangladesh Professional Golfers' Association (BPGA).
"I always play for victory. I didn't have any practice here, but I know the course well. So I'm confident about winning," said the 33-year-old.
Just back from the Singapore Open, Siddikur opted to play at his home event disregarding a much more lucrative Asian Tour event in Myanmar starting on Thursday. He said it is his prerogative to be present at the home event.
"I always like to play at home, especially on my home course. I won my first ADT title here seven years ago and I also had a good finish when the Asian Tour held an event there last year. I am excited to compete on my home course once again," added Siddikur.
However, Siddikur is expected to face some challenge from a 113-strong field from 13 countries including an ever-improving local contingent led by Jamal Hossain Mollah as well as a host of stars from PGTI featuring Shamim Khan, Mithun Perera, Sujjan Singh and promising ADT talents like Mathiam Keyser of South Africa and Wisut Artjanawat of Thailand.
The four-day event has a prize purse of 50 lac taka. The tournament trophy was unveiled at the KGC yesterday where the three leading players from the three tours, as well as organisers and sponsors, were present.
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