India's rising star Anirban Lahiri will be aiming to win for the first time at the Iskandar Johor Open next week.

The promising Lahiri, fresh from his best finish on the Asian Tour, showed further signs of his impressive talent when he finished tied third at the Hero Honda Indian Open last week, his best finish so far on Tour and he is hoping to go two notches higher soon.

The 22-year-old will compete at the Royal Johor Country Club and he will be determined to continue his impressive form at the US$1 million Asian Tour tournament from October 22 to 25.

Lahiri was introduced to the Royal and Ancient game at the age of eight and he continued to develop his raw talent before opting to further his golf education at the age of 17 in Bangalore, India.

As an amateur, Lahiri played in almost every amateur tournament in India and swept to six victories before taking the plunge as a professional golfer in 2007. He was a member of the Indian national amateur team that won the silver medal at the Asian Games in Doha in 2006.

"You have your ups and downs in golf and ironically, immediately after I turned pro, I played the worst golf I played in three years for about six months," said Lahiri.

"It was like a move from a well to the ocean and you get exposed to the big sharks. Very often I found myself standing next to the tee, looking at them and questioned how I was going to beat them," he added.

Lahiri found the much needed confidence booster at the end of 2008 when he came in second at a tournament on the Indian Tour.

"We had a very strong field there with Jeev (Milkha Singh) and Jyoti (Randhawa) playing in that event. Unfortunately I finished second alongside Jeev and one stroke behind Jyoti. From then on, I realized that if I play well, I can beat these guys," said Lahiri who has won once on Indian Tour.

Lahiri held true to his new found confidence and continued to sparkle on the Asian Tour where he has chalked up three top-10s and is currently in 25th position on the Order of Merit with US$108,008 this season.

With the Asian Tour schedule coming to a close, Lahiri is confident that he will be able to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Gaganjeet Bhullar who won the Indonesia President Invitational in July.

"I know I can get out there and win, especially looking at what Gaganjeet has done. He's upped his level a good two or three notches, I know that I'm going to knock on that door. I've got to keep my own speed. I know I'm getting there," said the Indian.

The Iskandar Johor Open, celebrating its third edition and offering a record prize fund this year, is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Johor Golf Association and Malaysian Golf Association.