Siddikur Rahman teed off the Basundhara Bangladesh Open campaign with a decent three-under-par 68 to sit jointly at 14th after end of the opening round at Kurmitola Golf Club in the capital yesterday.
Three other local golfers – Zamal Hossain, Md Jibon Ali and Md Abdul Matin – made a surprising start to the game as they also score the same as Siddikur which was highest the round-one score for any Bangladeshi.
Shunya Takeyasu of Japan played out an opening seven-under-par 64 to take the early morning lead at the second edition of the US$300,000 event. The 23-year-old, who just won his maiden Asian Development Tour (ADT) title last week, showed a flawless performance by playing seven birdies to lead by one shot over Thitiphun Chuayprakong of Thailand.
If a double bogey didn’t happen in the 16th hole, Jibon would have had the finest day of his career as he played six birdies against Matin’s five. While Siddikur began his day with a bogey on the opening hole and another in the 8th hole but managed to bag three consecutive birdies to get back in the game. In-total Siddikur played six birdies against three bogeys.
Meanwhile, Thai trio Namchok Tantipokhakul, Sutijet Kooratanapisan and freshman Kevin Techakanokboon carded matching 64s to sit in current third place alongside India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Rahul Bajaj, as well as George Gandranata of Indonesia.
Leader Takeyasu credited his hot putter for a solid round which saw him sink a 32-footer putt for par on the first hole.
