Noida, April 3 : Defending champion Manu Gandas, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rashid Khan, Om Prakash Chouhan, Olympian Udayan Mane, Aman Raj, Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa and Honey Baisoya will be among the contenders in the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) Delhi-NCR Open Golf Championship 2023 which will be staged at the Noida Golf Course from April 4-7. The Pro-Am event will be staged on April 8. The tournament carries a prize purse of Rs. 1 crore, the highest-ever for a PGTI event at the Noida Golf Course. The tournament field features, besides those mentioned above, will also include Sachin Baisoya, Shamim Khan, Abhinav Lohan and Amardeep Malik, to name a few. The foreign challenge will be led by Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, N. Thangaraja, Anura Rohana, K. Prabagaran, Bangladeshis Jamal Hossain, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain, American Varun Chopra,'Nepal's Sukra Bahadur Rai, Canadians Sukhraj Singh Gill, Minwoo Park,'Japan's Makoto Iwasaki and A'dorra's Kevin Esteve Rigaill. All three amateurs in the field -- Ankur Prakash, Ishaan Sawhney and Parth Raman Sood -- are from the Noida Golf Course. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, "The Delhi-NCR Open has over the years emerged as an important stop for the PGTI in the Delhi-NCR region, one of the big golfing hubs in the country. We thank Noida Golf Course for their continued support of the event. We're delighted to announce an Rs. 1 crore event at the Noida Golf Course for the first time. With an impressive prize purse at stake and a strong field vying for it, we can expect a spectacle of golf this week in Noida." Dr. Steven Menezes, Secretary, Noida Golf Course, said, "We welcome the return of the Delhi-NCR Open 2023, one of the most awaited events on the PGTI schedule, to the Noida Golf Course. We look forward to staging our biggest-ever prize money event in partnership with the PGTI. "The event is a great opportunity to provide exposure to our budding golfers as the depth in the field, the handsome prize purse on offer and excellent playing conditions set the stage for a highly competitive week of golf. It is our endeavour at the Noida Golf Course to support Indian professional golf through the staging of such events," he said. /IANS