Bhubaneswar, July 4: The lush green lawns of Bhubaneswar Golf Club saw talent on display during a two-day championship.

Around 30 participants, mostly teenagers, swung their clubs with confidence at the Bhubaneswar Junior Open golf tournament that concluded today.

The tournament organised as part of the sixth leg of the East Zone Junior Tour had four major categories — A, B, C and D — on the basis of different age groups.

There are still two legs left to be conducted and norms say that any player will have to play at least five legs to garner enough points to qualify for the nationals.

While six players each would qualify from A and B category, four players each from C and D will get the chance to lock horns with the toppers from three other zones.

Calcutta boy Bibek Sardar held his nerves to win the title in the clubbed category of A and B. “Although I did not play my best golf, I was happy with the result because of the course conditions,” said Bibek. Devansh Chadha took the top honours in Category C, while Rajib Ali emerged champion in Category D. Among girls, Chitrangada Singh won in this category.

Last year’s edition of the leg saw 110 participants, while this year the number has risen to 123. Though Manoj Jha, the tournament director, was pleased with the youngsters’ skills, he was worried that not many players from Bhubaneswar took part.

“If you saw the game of these players, you could bet that they have a bright future. One of them could become India’s Tiger Woods. Even the players taking part in other zonal games are equally brilliant,” said Jha.

“What worries me is that while golf is growing by leaps and bounds, not just in metropolitan cities but in places like Patna and Jamshedpur, parents here don’t seem to be enthusiastic about the game. At the entry level it may be a little heavy on the pockets, but for the professional grooming the cost factor is same as any other sport. We have five-six local boys playing from the city, but even the four players who took part last year did not turn up this time,” he added.

The tournament also featured 10 girls from outside the state. “Golf is such a popular sport internationally, but in India we are lagging behind. I dream to reach the international arena in a few years,” said Chitrangada from Calcutta.