Sandeep Yadav – Winner 121st All India Championship in Mumbai
Unheralded Sandeep Yadav of Royal Calcutta GC, West Bengal who came into the knockout rounds seeded 26th beat another surprise finalist, Md Wasil of New Delhi to clinch the 2022 All India Amateur Golf Championship at Bombay Presidency Golf Club in Mumbai by 5 and 4 in the finals.
Prior to the finals, Sandeep defeated two-time All India champion Aryan Roopa Anand of Bangalore and Harimohan, in the semi-finals.
Sandeep, who has been part of the staff of Royal Calcutta GC, has recently secured a job with Indian Railways, which should enable him to be more active on the national amateur circuit in future years.
The first two rounds were played in stroke-play format, where Karan Verma, also of West Bengal shot 70-65 (5-under 135) to enter the knockout phase as the top-seeded player among the 32 qualifiers, but he fell to Harimohan Singh by 2 and 1 in the pre-quarter finals.
An analysis of the home states of the 32 qualifying players for the All India is a good indication of where most world class courses, good coaching and upcoming Indian talent resides:
State-wise list (ranks) of 32 players who qualified for the All India match-play format –
West Bengal – Karan Verma (1), Sandeep Yadav (26)
UP – Vinamra Anand (2), Harimohan Singh (14), Aarav D Shah (19)
Punjab – Yuvraj Singh (3), Manjot Singh (7), Ranvir Singh Pandher (10), Jujhar Singh (14)
Karnataka – Aryana Roopa Anand (5), Shaurya Binu (5), Jaiveer (10), Sumit Kotwal
Delhi – Shaurya Bhattacharya (5), Mohd Wasil (10), Shat Mishra (22), Anshul Kabhthiyal (26)
Maharashtra – Vibhu Tyagi (9), Mayur Mistry (14), Aditya Tyagi (22)
Rajasthan – Sawai HS Bhati (19)
Haryana – Rohit (14), Mandaar Prashar (19), Anant S Ahlawat (26), Karan Mahto (31), Ayush Pannu (32)
Telangana – Tej Gangavarapu (26)