Thailand’s Poosit wins Bharath Classic with final hole birdie, Baisoya shoots 10-under to finish third

AHMEDABDa(Gujarat): Thailand’s Poosit Supupramai emerged winner of the inaugural 500,000 USD Bharath Classic Gujarat by one shot from hard-charging Korean Wooyoung Cho at the Kensville Golf Resort near here on Sunday.

Poosit (69) birdied the 18th and final hole on the day to hold off Wooyoung Cho (65) even as Sachin Baisoya blazed the Kensville Golf Resort with a 10-under 62, which included two amazing birdie runs – one with six in a row and another with four in a row. His scintillating performance on the final day saw him climb into a tie for third place as the best Indian finisher at the event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL), as per a press release.

Poosit’s closing 69 gave him his maiden Asian Tour win with a tournament total of 18-under par 270, while Cho (65) finished a shot behind on 17 under 271.

The win also secured the Asian Tour card for Poosit.

Baisoya, an IGPL Tour regular but still looking for his maiden win on the Tour, was tied on 15-under along with overnight leader Jazz Janewattananond, Panuphol Pittayarat and Ekpharit Wu, all of Thailand. Though a home win eluded the Indians, It was a great week for them, as four of them finished in the Top-10 and a total of eight finished in the Top-20.

As Baisoya finished third, Yuvraj Sandhu (67), a multiple winner at home, did his Asian Tour chances a lot good, with a sole seventh place finish. He was 14 under 274.

Ahmedabad Amateur Ishaan Chawhan, who had a brilliant week, could not get going the way he did on the first three days and shot 71, but he was under par all four days. At 13-under, he was Tied-eighth with IGPL Order of Merit Leader, Aman Raj (68) and two Thais, Settee Prakongvech (68) and Chonlatit Chuenboonngam (65).

Pukhraj Singh Gill (69) was Tied-12th at 12-under while Ajeetesh Sandhu (69)and Khalin Joshi (66) were ied-17th at 11-under. Saptak Talwar (66) was Tied-19.

The inaugural US 500,000 Bharath Classic was jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) Tour. The IGPL has three more events on its 2025 calendar, while it was the penultimate tournament of the season on the Asian Tour.

It was an important week for those hoping to make up ground on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit to secure playing privileges for next year, while the top four on the IGPL will get a spot into the final stage of the Asian Tour Q-School and a place in the 2026 International Series India.

The soft-spoken Poosit, whose previous best result on the Asian Tour was joint third at last year’s SJM Macao Open, said, “Amazing, I can’t believe it. I was struggling on the front nine, I was not playing well. It was all about mindset – that got me through.”

“I came here to try and improve my ranking on the Merit list. It was on my mind, not winning. But to secure my card this week with the win, it is beyond my dreams. Before the last two tournaments, I changed the loft and lie on my putter. It made such a big difference – I started holing putts.”

The round of the day, though, came from Sachin Baisoya, who returned a bogey-free 62 on Sunday. Starting from the 10th tee under the shotgun start system in use for the final two days here, Baisoya opened with six straight birdies to make the turn at this par-72 course on 6 under 30.

On the front nine, he went on another birdie blitz with four in a row between holes two and five with two good par saves on holes 18 and one. “I owe this round a lot to my iron play today,” Sachin said later.

“I practised for about an hour yesterday as I felt I was hitting my irons badly for the last three or four tournaments. I also took some coaching from Sudhir Sharma, who told me not to worry and play my natural game.”

“So the plan was to try something different today from the first four days, and that is exactly what happened today from the start. Most of my shots landed between three and five feet and also my putting was very solid,” he added.

The understated Chawhan said the four days here had been an extended golf lesson. The 22-year-old left-hander, who lost more than two years to injuries said, “Playing with all the Asian Tour players, watching them and talking to them has been a learning experience.

“I went in with the mindset that I had nothing to lose save making a point to myself. I was away from golf for different phases, which added up to one-and-half years, with injuries to the wrist and knee, and this is my first full season in four years.”

On what helped him bring in impressive cards of 67, 69, 68 and 71 this week, Chawhan said, “Even though I play here regularly, the course was set up differently to what we get as amateurs, and that was a challenge. For me, the highlight of the week has to be my iron play as the other aspects of my game weren’t that great.”

Asked what he was planning to do next, the Vijay Divecha trainee added, “I might turn pro, but will have a talk with my coach first. Right now, the focus is on the All-India Amateur (in mid-December) at Tollygunge Club.”

Sandhu, too, was pleased at his display here. “I started slowly (level par 72 on Thursday,) but after that the momentum was good.”

He added, “But for a few shots and putts that I left out there, I could have been in much closer contention (at 14 under, five shots behind winner Poosit) than I was.” (ANI)