Pihoo, Kota and Pula are winners at BT Golf Hyderabad, presented by Royal Ranthambore

Pihoo Chauhan in the ladies, Madav Kota in the 0 to 14 handicap category and Praveenn K. Pula in the 15 to 24 handicap section emerged winners at the Business Today Golf presented by Royal Ranthambore at the Boulder Hills Golf and Country Club in Hyderabad on Saturday.

On a warm and breezy morning, business and corporate honchos sharpened up on their skills with club and putter and put in some competitive performances in all three categories of competition as reflected in the final results.

Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin was in attendance as chief guest at the prize presentations for the event that is co-presented Indian Oil Corporation and Qatar Airways, with mobility partner MG Motor and tourism partner Rajasthan Tourism.

Besides giving away the prizes and other goodies on offer, Azhar also took a dig at his former teammate and friend Venkatapati Raju, affectionately known as ‘Muscles’ who was in the field. “Had he (Raju) put the kind of effort into cricket in his playing days that he does in golf, he would have been a much greater cricketer,” the left-arm spinner’s former skipper quipped.

Madav Kota was adjudged winner of the 0 to 14 handicap category on countback over A. Sridhar Reddy after both finished level on 37 points. The 15 to 24 handicap class too witnessed a tight battle with Praveen K. Pula topping D.S.N. Raju by a single point, 39 to 38.

Pihoo Chauhan won the ladies event, Angadjit Singh Sandhu powered the ball to 298 yards for the longest drive prize, Ajay Reddy missed the centre line by just 11 inches to top the straightest drive contest and V.S. Rao was five feet and change away from the flag in the closest to the pin competition.

Results

Closest to pin (overall, hole no. 3): V.S. Rao, 5 feet, 2 inches.

Straightest drive (overall, hole no. 14): Ajay Reddy V. 11 inches.

Longest driver (overall, hole no. 18): Angadjit Singh Sandhu, 298 yards.

15 to 24 handicap: Winner – Praveen K. Pula, 39 points; runner-up - D.S.N. Raju 38 points.

0-14 handicap: Winner – Madav Kota 37 points, on countback; runner-up – A. Sridhar Reddy 37 points.

Ladies: Winner – Pihoo Chauhan 32 points.