Kapil Dev inducted as PGTI board member

Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev was on Monday inducted as one of the board members of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the sports body said.

Dev, who captained India to World Cup glory in 1983, said he would work for the development of golf in the country.

"I thank PGTI for allowing me to be a part of their board. I am extremely happy to be a part of PGTI and will do my best to promote golf as a sport that is doing well and has the potential to become one of the most coveted tours in sports," Dev said in a PGTI release.

"...it is up to all of us to promote other sports including golf. I wish PGTI good luck for the upcoming events."

Hailing the decision to include Dev as a PGTI board member, ace Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh said, "Mr Kapil Dev being inducted as a Board Member of the PGTI will open up a lot of doors for the PGTI. He's a sporting legend, a keen golfer and he has a vision so it will be great to see his experience come into play for the benefit of Indian professional golf."

Meanwhile, the Delhi-NCR Open Golf Championship 2021, to be jointly organised by the TATA Steel PGTI and Prometheus School, Noida, will begin at the scenic Golden Greens Golf Club in Gurugram on Tuesday. The Pro-Am event will be staged on March 20.

The tournament, the 10th event of the 2020-21 PGTI season, carries a prize purse of ₹30 lakh. Golfers will earn Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points as they can improve their chances of qualification for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

The tournament is expected to see some of the top Indian professionals in action such as Rashid Khan, Rahil Gangjee, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Chikkarangappa, Viraj Madappa and Khalin Joshi along with 10-time PGTI winner Udayan Mane and PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar.

The race for qualification for Tokyo Olympics has entered an exciting phase with just over three months remaining before the cut-off date of June 21. Rashid Khan (306), Udayan Mane (317), Karandeep Kochhar (348) and Chikkarangappa (349) are the four highest-ranked Indians in the world.

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