8/17/2019 At the cusp of Victory- Vikrant Chopra

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6 2 G o l f P l u s MAY   2 0 1 6

CLUB NEWS

We live in an age that eulogizes victors andbe it the life or sport, the runner’s up hardly

ever gets a mention. Winning in Professional

Sport is tough and more so in Golf. In mostother sports the odds of winning or losing

a match are the same, be it Football, Cricket,Badminton, Tennis or Hockey. In Golf however,

the odds for any player to win are ratherlopsided in favor of not doing so, each player

has less than 1 % (approximately 0.7%) chance

of winning a tournament (due to the numberof participants).

Often, the top five players in a tournament aretightly bunched together till the end, and the

difference between the winner and the rest can

be as little as a small missed putt or a fleetinglapse in concentration. In a game of slim

margins caution might will be the anathemafor a victor, as highest glory often goes to those

who can risk it all and go for broke!Getting the short end of the stickA player well too aware of the perils of being

consistently good is Vikrant Chopra. Still

 yearning for his maiden victory this much-vaunted talent from ONGC has often found

himself at the wrong side of the bargainingtable. He is arguably the best player in India

with an active winless streak, not for the want

of effort though!

Currently ranked top five in the country, with

six runners up finishes and more than twentytop five finishes on the PGTI Tour since 2007,

Vikrant has been the perennial bridesmaidfor rather long and his eerie record of runner

up finishes has often drawn comparisons

to Sergio Garcia’s similar run at the MajorChampionships.

Flying under the radar!Chopper, as he is fondly called by his mates is

probably one of the most prolific iron players

on the PGTI Tour, strengthened by meticulouspractice sessions under the watchful eyes of

Coach Ajay Gupta; his iron play can rival that ofthe best in Asia.

His accuracy is devastating and he is one of

the few Indian players that can bring a Golfcourse to its knees, despite possessing an

average short game. Testament to such abilityare some of his low rounds on the PGTI (he has

shot rounds of up to 8 under par at challenging

courses such as Jaypee ,KGA and the tricky

Eagleton Golf Course).A solid player no doubt, Vikrant has tastedsuccess since the early parts of his career,

first ascending to the top of the Amateur

rankings and subsequently representing Indiaat prestigious international events; including

the Eisenhower World Cup. A late bloomer, hepicked up the game in College and only turned

professional at the age of twenty five.

A team player, he has often stated his wishto see more team format tournaments, little

wonder that he has been a key member of thewinning squad that won the Prestigious Louie

Philippe Cup on two occasions!

Adrenaline runs in his blood!Vikrant’s younger brother Vishal is an officer

from the Indian Army’s elite Para SpecialForces (having also served with the NSG)

and an instructor for the Indian Army SkyDiving Team. Little wonder that Vikrant has

taken a leaf from his younger brother’s book

and has cultivated a similar passion forextreme sport.

A Shooter, Sports Bike racer, Rock Climber and aSky Diver his passion for the daring is vast but,

from all his interests Sky Diving seems to be a

clear favorite. Fellow golfers and good friendsVikrant, Jyoti Randhawa and Digvijay Singh

can often be spotted jumping from a plane,helicopter or bridge.

The trio has done close to ten solo jumps

together! “I treat adventure sports as training

for Golf, each time I jump out of a plane Iam taking a calculated risk, and with each

 jump I improve my ability of handling stress

and pressure, an ability that helps me on the

course”.

The Best is yet to comeAt thirty six, he is now arguably at the peak ofhis career and seems to have finally produced

performances worthy of his talent. If recent

performances are anything to go by, then itis just a matter of time before he scales the

same heights as his illustrious jumping mates-Digvijay Singh and Jyoti Randhawa.

At the cusp of victory- Vikrant Chopra!by Shaurya Singh