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| Sunday, 26 January 2003 |
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Anura Rohana - Sri Lanka's latest 'Pro' golfer by LAL GUNESEKERA First it was Tiru Fernando - the first amateur golfer from Sri Lanka to turn professional. Then it was Nandasena Perera. Now its the turn of R. A. Anura Rohana who qualified to play on the Asian Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour after a brilliant performance in Malaysia in the two qualifying tournaments staged in Malacca and Johore. The 28-year-old Anura Rohana had rounds of 72, 68, 71, 68 to finish 10th in Johore where 165 top amateurs from Europe, USA, Japan, South Korea, Philippines to name a few vied for honours. After two rounds, it was brought down to 80, but only 40 were given the Tour card. He finished 20th in Malacca with rounds of 73, 76, 73 and 80. The President of the Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) Shiran de Soysa, told the Sunday Observer that he felt that Anura Rohana will "make it", but did not expect him to fare so well. He said that the SLGU will be working out a programme for Anura Rohana. He also said that there were about four to five tournaments that Rohana cannot compete as they are part of the European Tour and the number of berths are limited for those from Asia. He said: "There is no point for Anura Rohana to play in tough tournaments straight away. We will let him play in smaller tournaments and do well to make him confident of himself. Speaking to the Sunday Observer soon after his arrival from Malaysia last week, Anura Rohana, was full of gratitude to both Rusi Captain of Asia Capital and Sanjeewa Wickremanayake of IBM, who helped him financially and also for his success and dream that has come true of playing on the Professional Circuit. He said: "Without them I would not have been able to achieve this feat and I am determined to do well and bring honour to my country. Rohana, after a few days with his family in Sri Lanka, left for Qatar last week for the two-day Qatar Open, which is a pro-am event for which he has been specially invited by the organisers with whom he has close connections. He said that his first professional tournament will be in Malaysia in February, followed at Burma in March and possibly Vietnam in April. Anura Rohana won the Silver Medal at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea last year (2002) and also won the Bangladesh Open Amateur title in Dhaka for the third time earlier this year (2003). He won the Sri Lanka Amateur Open in 1999 in which year he also won the Pakistan Open Amateur title at Rawalpindi and the Malaysian Open Amateur title in Kuala Lumpur. Also in 1999, Rohana, finished fourth at the Singapore Open Amateur, fourth at the Thailand Open Amateur and fourth again at the Chinese Taipei Open Amateur Championships. He was runner-up at the All-India Amateur Open Championship in Bombay in 2000. |
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