From a player’s perspective, what does the backing of a sponsor mean? For Asian Tour winner Chiragh Kumar, “The support of a good company means going out and playing with a free mind. It is also a feel-good factor as getting noticed means one is ticking the right boxes.”
Quite like Gaurav Ghei’s association with N Srinivasan at India Cements coming through out of nowhere in the early nineties, Chiragh tying up with the AVT Group is almost like the stuff dreams are made of.
The year was 2007 and Chiragh had just turned pro after the team silver at the Doha Asian Games. Driven by the desire to play every single event on the Asian Tour, he landed in Coimbatore for a felicitation function and he met Dilip Thomas over dinner.
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A conversation started and midway Thomas enquired if Chiragh had a sponsor. The answer was no and without a pause the entrepreneur extended his hand and said, “Now you have one.” As a token, a Rs 10 note was handed over which till date find a place in Chiragh’s wallet.
The association continued till early 2014 and the period yielded several top-10 finishes on the continental tour and four wins on the Professional Golf Tour of India.
No gym. No school. No excuses. 💯 👨👧👧 💪@KumarChiragh #MondayMotivation #StayWell pic.twitter.com/T3959zPUPv
— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) May 4, 2020
Playing without any support in 2014 and 2015, during which he also secured his breakthrough win in Asia by winning the Panasonic Open, made Chiragh hungrier, so when Take Solutions signed him in 2016, it was as Chiragh puts it, “welcoming a new member to the TAKE family”, and he stays thankful.
Photo credit: Chiragh Kumar
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