GOLFER Vikrant Chandra will be defending the 2012 Srixon Cleveland Fiji Amateur and Easter Teams Championships this weekend at the Nadi Airport Golf club.
The national golfer won the event last year and will be in top form to retain the title in a bid to qualify for the World Amateur Teams Championship to be held in Turkey in September.
The two-day Fiji Amateur and Easter Teams Championships will also be the national ranking event with scores to be passed on to the Royal and Ancient of Scotland (R&A) for ranking updates.
Tournament co-ordinator Mark Hinton said the annual event was expected to draw a good turnout.
He says close to 50 golfers have confirmed their participation.
He added the tournament, starting this Saturday, was a blue ribbon amateur national golfing event. "This is a Tier-One national ranking event. Throughout the year there are 10 national ranking events and from there we pick our national squad," Hinton said.
"This tournament, along with the Fiji Open in June and Natadola Open in July, will be the qualifying event for the national squad to the World Amateur Teams Championship, which will be held in Turkey in September. We will take a squad of three golfers."
Hinton said they had lucrative prizes on stake from Srixon Cleveland during the tournament. "The sponsor's are offering golfing equipment as the prizes at the tourney.
"It's a very prestigious event and we are expecting a tough challenge because there are quite a few players in contention for the title. It's a good lead for Fiji Open and we are expecting a successful tournament," he said. The 54-hole event will have golfers with a maximum handicap of 10. Entry fee is $80 per person including lunch on Sunday. Entries close today at 5pm.