Shiraz Singh, Shunil Juneja take ‘Birdie Machine’ to thrilling win

Shiraz Singh pulled off a magnificent final hole win with her partner Shunil Juneja to take ‘Birdie Machine’ to a win against ‘The Pioneer’ at the LLOYD Delhi Golf Club League – Powered by RADICO. 

Khel Today Bureau 

New Delhi: The duo of Shiraz Singh and Shunil Juneja pulled of a remarkable win the in the 18th hole, to register a narrow victory over  so far undefeated, ‘The Pioneers’ on Day-8 of the ‘Lloyd Delhi Golf Club League – Powered by Radico’  being played at the historic par-72 Delhi Golf Club. ‘Birdie Machine’ tallied 8 points as against ‘The Pioneer’s’ 7.

‘Birdie Machine’ began with a win in the first match but ‘The Pioneers’ pulled back with a win in the second. With the third and fourth matches tied, ‘The Pioneer’ nudged ahead with a win in the fifth.  ‘Birdie Machine’ managed to win the sixth match and there was a lot of pressure on ‘Birdie Machine’ who were one point behind going into the 18th hole in the seventh match.  The duo of Shiraz Singh and Shunil Juneja of ‘Birdie Machine’ managed to win the hole against Manish Periwal and Punit Beriwal of ‘The Pioneer’ to nudge to a win by a solitary point.

In the first play-off, ‘Christie’s Golf ‘ steamrolled ‘SwingKKings’ by 9 points.  ‘Christie’s Golf’ tallied 12 points while their opponents who didn’t manage to register a single win today., managed only 3 points.  ‘SwinhgKKings’ were pretty much ineffective through the day, with ‘Christie’s Golf’ winning the first, third, sixth and seventh matches and tying the remaining three.

In the third playoff of the day, ‘Ardee Masters’ romped home to a massive win over ‘Eagles & Birdies’ managing 10 points against their opponent’s tally of 5.5 points.  Both teams are out of contention for the knock-out stage.  ‘Eagles & Birdies’ started well with wins in the first two matches but thereafter it was ‘Ardee Masters’ all the way, with four wins and one tie against their name.

In the fourth play-off ‘Golf Code’ managed only 3.5 points as against ‘Sterling Swingers’, 11.5 points.  ‘Sterling Swingers’ won the first three matches on the trot before tying the fourth.  The registered a win in the fifth match as well, before ‘Golf Code’ managed their first win of the day on the sixth.  ‘Sterling Swingers’ went on to hammer the final nail in the coffin with a win on the seventh to beat their opponents by 8 points.

In the final play-off of the day, ‘Royal Ranthambore Athletic Drive’ tallied 9 points to beat ‘Shiva’ who managed 6.5 points.  ‘Royal Ranthambore Athletic Drive’ won the first-match but ‘Shiva’ pulled back with a win in the second. The third and fourth matches were won by ‘Royal Ranthambore Athletic Drive’ and ‘Shiva’ respectively and the two teams went into the fifth match tied with two wins apiece. The scenario was replayed in the next two matches with ‘Royal Ranthambore Athletic Drive’ winning the fifth match and ‘Shiva’ the sixth.  ‘Royal Ranthambore Athletic Drive’ registered a win in the final match of the day to win the contest.

With 22 teams and 12 days of action to go in the round-robin stage, the field is very open and golf lovers are in for some scintillating golf.  The League, being played at the historic par-72 Delhi Golf Club course, features 15 days of hard-fought golf and will conclude in a Grand Finale on November 4, 2023.  

The tournament is being played on a ‘Four-ball better-ball Matchplay’ Format.  The League will be played in two stages – a Round Robin stage followed by a Knock-out stage. During each playoff match between two teams, each team will field 7 pairs (14 players). One pair from each team will play against a pair from the other team in a “Four-ball better-ball” Matchplay format with all the players playing off 75% of their original handicaps. The teams will get points for their wins. The 22 teams have been divided into 4 groups. After the Round Robin stage, 2 teams from each group will qualify for the Knock-out stage starting with the Quarter-finals.  The Finals will be played on November 4, 2023.

RESULTS:

Play-off 1:

Christie’s Golf (12 pts.) bt. SwingKKings (3 pts.)

Play-off 2:

Birdie Machine (8 pts.) bt. The Pioneers (7  pts) 

Play-off 3:

Ardee Masters  (10 pts) bt. Eagles & Birdies (5.5 pts.)

Play-off 4:

Sterling Swingers  (11.5 pt) bt. Golf Code (3.5  pts.)

Play-off 5:

Royal Ranthambore Athletic Drive (9 pts.) bt. Shiva (6.5 pts.).