Teenage South African sensation Matthew Kent continued his impressive display when he beat top seed and defending champion Manav Das of Ambala to reach the final of the Eveready 103rd All-India Amateur Golf Championship, the second oldest golf tournament in the world after the British Open, being played at the par-72 Royal Calcutta Golf Club, on Saturday.
The 16-year-old Kent won a thrilling semi-final on the final hole and thus set up an exciting 36-hole final on Sunday with BG Lalithakumara of Sri Lanka.
Lalithakumara, the All-India Amateur champion in 2000, at Chandigarh, has displayed brilliant form during the entire week, and was ruthless in his 5&4 demolition of the fourth seed James Smith of England.
Kent, widely tipped as the face of South African golf in the future and a member of the prestigious Ernie Els Foundation, looked in absolute command of his match against Manav.
The fifth seed was always up against Manav, who made a series of errors with his approach shots on the fifth, sixth and seventh holes to miss the greens. Kent only needed to make pars to go three-up.
But India's No 1 amateur came back strongly to win the ninth and then halved the next six holes to be two-down after 15. He then won the 16th with a birdie and the 17th to go all square. On the final hole, both players overshot the green and then chipped to almost 15 feet past the hole. A spot in the final depended on who would make the putt, and while Manav missed, Kent canned his putt.
In the Lalithakumara-Smith match, the Lankan was always in command. He won the first with a birdie and the third and fifth with pars. Smith managed to close the gap on the 10th, but Lalitha was right back with a birdie on the 12th, and it was all over when Smith three-putted the 13th and 14th.
"I am looking forward to the final tomorrow. My plan is to aim for the pars and let the birdies come. You can't lose too many hole with pars," said Kent.
Lalithakumara would be looking to regain the title he last won in 2001.
"I am very excited. I think I am playing good golf at the moment. But Kent is a very good player and I will have to play at my best to beat him tomorrow. It will be a tough battle," said the No 1 Sri Lankan amateur, who hopes to turn pro after winning the 2006 Asian Games gold medal for his country.
Results (semi-final Seedings in prefix and country in parenthesis):
5-Matthew Kent (SA) bt 1-Manav Das 1-up; 3-BG Lalithakumara (SL) bt 4-James Smith (Eng) 5&4