In one of the most closely-fought matches in the Rs One million SRF Matchplay golf championship, top seed Arjun Atwal stopped the giant-killing act of Jaiveer Virk on the final hole to move into the semi-finals of the only matchplay tournament on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour.

At the par-72 Delhi Golf Club, Atwal beat Virk 1-up and will next meet No 5 Vijay Kumar, who escaped with a victory on the 20th hole against Feroz Ali in the pre-quarters and then whipped Vinod Kumar 6&4 in the quarters.

In the other semis, an all-Kolkata affair is in the offing, with sixth seed Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia taking on the 18th seed Rahil Gangjee.

Chowrasia beat Rafiq Ali 4&2, while Gangjee got the better of Pappan 2&1.

The match between Atwal and Virk was a cracker. The Delhi youngster shot seven birdies and yet lost to a rampant Atwal, who just went into overdrive on the back nine. Virk, popularly known as "Plucky", went three-up with birdies on the first, second and sixth holes and it looked like he would pluck out another seed after disposing off No 9 Gaurav Ghei and No 8 Arjun Singh in the previous rounds.

However, Atwal came back after that and won the eighth and ninth hole to be just one-down at the turn. On the 10th, Virk chipped-in for a birdie to go 2-up. Atwal reduced the margin with a birdie on the 12th. Virk made his only mistake on the 13th, where he tried to go for the pin, but overshot the green and ended up with a bogey. Both birdied the 14th and Virk chipped-in for a birdie on the 15th, only to remain all-square when Atwal drained his 12-footer birdie putt.

The top-seed moved 1-up with a 3-feet birdie on the par-3 17th and both birdied the 18th to finish an engrossing contest.

"I did not play so well in the front nine, but the back nine was pretty good. I must add that Jaiveer played exceptionally well," said Atwal after the match.

"I am disappointed to lose, but satisfied with the way I played. At least I did not go down without putting up a fight," said Virk.

Chowrasia, playing with severe injuries following a serious motorcycle accident a week back in Kolkata, beat his good friend Rafiq. It was an exceptional performance by Chowrasia, who slept only at 3:00 am because of pain, but returned on the course and played two rounds.

"It could have been worse but Rafiq's left abdomen was paining and he did not put too much pressure on me," said Chowrasia, winner of two out of last three events on the Hero Honda Golf Tour this season.

Vijay and Gangjee did not have to do too much with Vinod and Pappan struggling with their hitting.

In the morning pre-quarter final matches, Atwal made it to the quarters, beating last year's winner Shiv Prakash 2&1, while No 5 Vijay Kumar came from 2-down after 15 holes to beat 12th seed Feroz Ali on the 20th hole.

The big upset in the pre-quarters was Virk beating eighth seed Arjun Singh with a birdie on the 20th hole in the IS Malik bracket.

In the Mohinder Bal bracket, 18th seed Rahil Gangjee beat S Madaiah 3&2 to meet Pappan, who got the better of Mohd Islam 4&2.

Sixth seed SSP Chowrasia beat local boy Ashok Kumar 4&2.

Quarter-final results: 1-Arjun Atwal bt 24-Jaiveer Virk 1-up; 5-Vijay Kumar bt 29-Vinod Kumar 6&4; 6-SSP Chowrasia bt 14-Rafiq Ali 4&2; 18-Rahil Gangjee bt 23-Pappan 2&1.

Pre-quarter-final results: 1-Arjun Atwal bt 16-Shiv Prakash 2&1; 24-Jaiveer Virk bt 8-Arjun Singh 20th hole; 29-Vinod Kumar bt 13-Yusuf Ali 2&1; 5-Vijay Kumar bt 12-Feroz Ali 20th hole; 6-SSP Chowrasia bt 11-Ashok Kumar 4&2; 23-Pappan bt 26-Mohd Islam 4&2; 14-Rafiq Ali bt 30-Devendra Patel 1-up; 18-Rahil Gangjee bt 34-S Madaiah 3&2.

Semi-final line-up: 1-Arjun Atwal vs 5-Vijay Kumar (11:30 am); 6-SSP Chowrasia vs 18-Rahil Gangjee (11:40 am).