Chikkarangappa, Angad Cheema & Abhijit Singh Chadha earn their maiden Asian Tour cards

Himmat Singh Rai regains his card

  

Hua Hin, Thailand, January 24, 2015: Indian youngsters Chikkarangappa, Angad Cheema and Abhijit Singh Chadha finished inside the top-40 after the final round of the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage and thus earned their maiden Asian Tour cards. Himmat Singh Rai, a former winner on the Asian Tour, also regained his card after finishing inside the top-40.

Chikkarangappa (66-66-76-68), a winner on the Asian Development Tour in 2014, finished as the highest-placed Indian at the event as he claimed fourth position at nine-under-276. The Bangalorean, who shot a creditable three-under-68 on Saturday, finished six shots behind the winner Daniel Chopra of Sweden.

Chikka, who finished second on the PGTI';s Rolex Rankings in 2013 and 2014, made four birdies and a bogey in his final round.

Chandigarh lad Angad Cheema (69-71-68-72) earned his place in Asia';s premier tour after a tied 12th finish at five-under-280 along with Delhi-based Himmat Singh Rai (70-67-71-72) 

Abhijit Singh Chadha (71-69-73-71), another Chandigarh golfer, also managed to progress to the Asian Tour thanks to his tied 37th finish at one-under-284. The top 47 players earned their full cards for the 2015 Asian Tour season as 11 players were in tied 37th after the final round.

Interestingly, India';s three new entrants on the Asian Tour, Chikka, Cheema and Chadha, are all below the age of 25. The three golfers are also tournament winners on the PGTI.

The three Indians who finished outside the top-40 and thus missed their cards were Amardip Sinh Malik (two-over-287) in tied 62nd place, Khalin Joshi (four-over-289) in tied 77th and C Muniyappa (five-over-290) in tied 84th place.