Kahlon 4th, Gangjee and Lahiri 6th in King’s Cup

Khon Kaen: Harmeet Kahlon’s sizzling late charge earned him a share of the fourth place while title contender Rahil Gangjee had to be satisfied with a sixth place finish in the King’s Cup golf tournament here on Sunday. Gangjee, who won his maiden Asian Tour title in 2004, went into the final round two strokes off the lead and knowing that he had secured his card for the next year. The Kolkata pro signed off with a modest one-under 71 to finish 11-under 277, three shots behind eventual winner Chan Yih-shin of Chinese Taipei. Like Gangjee, Kahlon (276) too was in hunt for his second Asian Tour title but the Indian’s four-under 66 saw him finish two strokes behind the eventual winner.Among other Indians in the fray, Anirban Lahiri carded 68 to join Gangjee at the sixth place. Five shots behind at tied 15th was Digvijay Singh who carded 71 on Sunday. Indian Open champion C Muniyappa (285) finished tied 21st, followed by Gaurav Ghei (44th), who finished just outside the top 65 in the Order Of Merit to lose full playing rights for the next season.Firoz Ali (296) came tied 56th and Manav Jaini (298) finished tied 66th. Having dropped down the title race after an even-par third round, Kahlon fired four birdies in his impeccable front nine, including three in a row. On his way back, Kahlon bogeyed the 16th hole before the birdie on the next kept him six-under for the day. Meanwhile, Gangjee’s title defence died on a wobbly back nine. Three-under after a bogey-free front nine, Gangjee bogeyed the 14th, 15th and 17th to drop down the race and the final hole birdie came too late and was too little. After failing to retain his Asian tour card playing rights, Ghei said it was disappointing and he just could not play well enough. “I just didn’t play well the last two days. That’s the way it is I guess. I just didn’t make any putts. I made three bogeys and didn’t make any putts. It’s disappointing,” said Ghei, a three-time Asian Tour winner. Ghei will now have to rely on his career earnings status for playing rights in 2010. PTI