Vijitha and Amarapadma carry SL hopes at Malaysian Open

Anuradha Abeysekera

Some of Sri Lanka's top amateur golfers are in action at the 111th edition of the prestigious Malaysian Amateur Open Golf Championship which commenced yesterday at the panoramic Royal Pahang Golf Club, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. The championship will continue till May 26.

Sri Lanka's number one amateur Vijitha Bandara and M Amarapadma will carry Sri Lanka's hopes at the Malaysian Open 2013. Vijitha Bandara is in very good form after winning his first major international title at the eighth Gannon Dunkerley NCR Cup in Delhi, India earlier this year.

Last year, Gavin Kyle Green emerged champion with a brilliant performance to end Malaysia's 15-year title drought and this year too Malaysia will try their best to retain the crown as they have lodged the most number of entries to the championship including senior players in the national squad, Abel Tam, Afif, Tuck Soon and Low Khai Jei. The last win by a Malaysian was in 1997 by R. Nachimuthu.

Earlier Sri Lanka's Nadasena Perera and Anura Rohana won the Malaysian Open Amateur title decades ago. Sri Lanka's N. Thangaraja finished ninth last year. The championship was inaugurated in 1894 and won world recognition in 2006 with its inclusion as an event in the world amateur golf ranking circuit.

Among its former champions Robert Allenby, Stephen Leaney, Jarrod Moseley, Mardan Mamat, Juvic Pagunsan and Shiv Kapur are prominent golfers who later went on to make a name for themselves in the professional circuit.

Malaysian Golf Association is hosting this event annually in different parts of the country to promote and popularize golf through out Malaysia. Last year it was held at the Glenmarie Golf & Country Club. For the first time a ladies division was worked off as a part of the championship from May 21 to 23 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Malaysia.

The top regional golfing powerhouses Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, India, Korea and China will battle it out for supremacy with Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bahrain, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in this year's championship.