Hyderabad: Defending champions Boulder Hills Tigers pulled an impressive playoff win over last year’s finalists, Novotel Stars to qualify for the semifinals of the Titan Eye Cemetrix T9 Challenge after both teams were tied at the end of the league stage at the picturesque Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club.
Jaagruthi Jaguars pulled off an improbable 2.5-1.5 win over the strong Cemetrix team who saw reverses in games they started out as slight favourites. With their qualification hanging in the balance, the Jaguars needed all the luck and skill in their armoury as they went through on the final hole & final putt of the regular league stage.
The result pushed the Boulder Hills Tigers & Novotel Stars into a playoff for the fourth place as their league match on the opening day was halved. Captain Shashidhar Reddy going out with Sridhar Reddy put the Tigers in front on the first playoff hole before Narhari Varma made a superb par on the second hole to extend the match to the third hole. Sridhar then hit his tee shot pin high on the par 3 third and with Novotel Stars unable to make birdie, Tigers breathed a sigh of relief.
Earlier in the day, Ecolastic Eagles topped the table with another impressive win, this time over Boulder Hills Tigers and Novotel Stars could only halve their match against bottom of the table Boulder Ninjas. The TGF Backspinners closed their campaign with a 2.5-1.5 win over BHGCC Raiders.
The semifinals line-ups are a repeat of today’s matches as top seeds Ecolastic Eagles taking on Boulder Hills Tigers and Cemetrix taking on Jaagruthi Jaguars on Wednesday. The winners of the semifinals will compete over two finals on Saturday.