Vani Kapoor turns pro in season-opening
Hero-KGA Women’s Pro event
· Hero-KGA event to carry
Rs. 10 lakhs purse, highest- ever in Domestic Pro event in India
· Field includes Sharmila,
Smriti & Nalini Siwach
Bangalore,
August 21: Vani
Kapoor, one of India’s most promising talents in women’s golf, will take the
big plunge as she turns professional in the season-opener Hero-KGA Women’s Pro
golf tournament from Wednesday. Vani, who turned 18 this January, and virtually
dominated amateur golf in the country, has represented India at various
international amateur events, including the Asian Games and the Queen Sirikit
Cup.
The
event at the re-done Karnataka Golf Association golf course also marks a
landmark partnership between the Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) and
the KGA, which is also the home of India’s top women’s pro, Sharmila Nicollet.
The
event billed as one of the ‘Majors’ of the WGAI Season 2012-13 carries a total
prize purse of Rs. 10 lakhs, the biggest so far in the history of Women’s
Professional golf in India. The winner will take home Rs. 2,62,500 and the
runners-up takes Rs. 1,80,000.
Vani
will join the established women pros, including Sharmila Nicollet, who also
plays on the Ladies European Tour, seasoned, Smriti Mehra , Nalini Singh Siwach,
Neha Tripathi and Saaniya Sharma among others.
“It
is exciting to play as a pro and of course I am a bit nervous. Some
butterflies, maybe they will stay till I tee off on Wednesday. But I am sure
when I am on the course, things will be normal. It is a course I have played
very often, so I am familiar with the layout, even though it was re-done
recently. The KGA is a wonderful course,” said Vani.
“I was waiting to turn 18 and since my long-term plan is to play professional golf, I felt this was the ideal time. I wanted to start off right from the opening of the season,” added Vani.
Just
under a year ago, Vani, while still being an amateur, won the fifth leg of the
Hero Women’s Pro Tour by a whopping 10 shots – Nalini Singh Siwach was the top
finishing pro at event – at the Golden Greens in Gurgaon.
Coached
by DLF Teaching Pro, Anitya Chand, Vani has shown tremendous promise and this
professional debut could well be the first step in what could be a great
career.
Interestingly,
Aditi Ashok, a local, who is still an amateur, will also figure in the
tournament. Aditi, like Vani topped a pro event last season. Aditi beat Vani at
the All India Ladies Amateur final earlier this year, so their rivalry will be
interesting to watch.
Sharmila,
who has been playing on the Ladies European Tour also, will be a star
attraction at the Hero-KGA event. She topped the Hero-WGAI Order of Merit for
two years in a row, but last year she played only 10 of the15 events and ended
fourth. “I was also playing in Europe, so I had to miss a few events, but I did
win two,” she said.
“Playing
at the KGA is always great. It is a course where I spend a lot of time and it
is good to see the season starting off here. The competition and the money is
going up on the Indian Women’s Pro Tour and I am sure this will continue,” she
added.
Smriti
Mehra, one of India’s star pros, who also played on the LPGA, won seven of the
15 events last season. She topped the Money List while Nalini Singh Siwach, who
won three events, was second. Neha Tripathi was third and Sharmila fourth.
The
next two events will also be held in Bangalore, with the second leg at Clover
Greens and the third leg at Prestige Golfshire, with a purse of Rs, five lakhs
each.
The
field also includes Saaniya Sharma and Pallavi Jain, who would be keen to add
to the one title each they won last season. Meghna Bal, Preetinder Kaur and
Shraddhanjali Singh would be others to look out for.
Sharmila
has been paired with Preetinder and local golfer, Rani Sonti, while Vani tees
off with Saaniya Sharma and Seema Sobti.
The
2012-13 season is scheduled to have 10 events plus two Majors, one at the start
of the season and one right at the end. The 10 events will carry a total purse
of Rs, 70 lakhs, an increase of 66 per cent over the last year’s purse of Rs.
42 lakhs.
Tee times for
Round 1:
8.30
am: Nalini Singh Siwach and
Suchitra Ramesh (A)
8.40
am: Smriti Mehra and Nalini Singh
8.50
am: Aditi Ashok (A), Shraddhanjali
Singh and Nikki Ponappa
9.00
am: Trisha Sunil (A), Ankita Tiwana
and Neha Tripathi
9.10
am: Meghna Bal, Priya Puri and
Pallavi Jain
9.20
am: Saaniya Sharma, Vani Kapoor and
Seema Sobti
9.30
am: Preetinder Kaur, Sharmila
Nicollet and Rani Sonti
Regards
Deep
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