Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman tees off during the opening day of the bti International Golf Championship at the Kurmitola Golf Club on Monday. — Sourav Loskar

Bangladesh’s Abdul Matin upstaged his compatriot Siddikur Rahman to lead the first round of the bti International Golf Championship with a score of four-under-par 68 at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka Cantonment on Monday.
Ace golfer Siddik is trailing Matin by just two shots as he occupies the second spot with two-under-par 70. He shares the place with compatriot Babu Ahmed and Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera.  
Matin played some brilliant strokes on the first day of the four-day event that saw him hit six birdies against only two bogeys. After a bogey in the second hole Matin came back strongly to stamp his authority with five birdies in the next nine holes.
Siddik, who took the tournament as part of his preparation for the upcoming US Open qualifying round later this month, was able to stroke four birdies against two bogeys that eventually was the reason for him to lag behind Matin. 
Babu hit three birdies against one bogey to share the second place with Siddik while Sri Lankan Mithun stroked four birdies and equal number of bogeys to join them.
KGC professional Liton Howlader finished with one-under-par 71, but could have been in a much better position had he not lost his way towards the end of the round.
Liton was heading for a great finish when he birdied five of the first 11 holes, but three bogeys in the last seven holes saw him fall behind.  
With 65 professional golfers from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and hosts Bangladesh, this is the first ever international professional tournament that bti has organised in association with the Bangladesh Professional Golfers’ Association (BPGA). The Tk 15 lakh competition is scheduled to end on May 10.