Kuching (Malaysia): The seasoned Shiv Kapur will be eager to turn his season around when he spearheads a 17-man Indian challenge at the Sarawak Championship starting here on Thursday. Kapur, a three-time Asian Tour winner, has made only three cuts in nine starts this season. He will vie for the top honours alongside 156 players from 22 countries at the USD 300,000 championship, which returns to the Asian Tour for its second edition.

The other Indians in the fray include Rashid Khan, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Chiragh Kumar, Viraj Madappa and Khalin Joshi, S Chikkarangappa, Abhijit Chadha, Akshay Sharma, Aman Raj, Gaurav Pratap Singh, Honey Baisoya, Karandeep Kochhar, M Dharma, Udayan Mane and Veer Ahlawat. "The two nine holes are very different to each, the mountain 9 and the Ocean 9. Putting will be key this week. The main challenges will be on the greens. The other challenge will also be when the wind gets up in the afternoon. Basically, it's going to be important to putt and chip well around these greens," Kapur said .