Hitaashee out to maintain Tolly form at Vizag leg of Hero WPGT

By Rahul Banerji

The in-form Hitaashee Bakshi will look to maintain her impressive recent form at the fourth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the East Point Golf Club in Visakhapatnam.

The Gurgaon golfer is on the comeback after last year’s injuries and was runner-up in the first two legs before a superb victory at Tollygunge Club in Kolkata last week, the WGAI said.

Hitaashee also recently topped Qualifying School in Thailand to gain her card on the All Thailand Ladies PGA Tour. At Vizag, she will tee off alongside Yaalisai Verma and Ananya Garg, who showed a lot of promise in Kolkata.

Opportunity beckons

As some of India’s top stars now readying for their schedules on the Ladies European Tour and the Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa, it opens the doors for the younger lot of women professionals waiting in the wings.

Besides a host of new faces, Ridhima Dilawari will be looking to get some tournament action before shifting to the international events herself.

The field includes 2023 Order of Merit topper Sneha Singh, who has not been as dominant as last year, Seher Atwal, Khushi Khanijau and Jasmine Shekar.

Youngsters to watch out for include amateurs Zara Anand, who did well at the IGU-run National Games and All India Amateurs and Kolkata’s Sinjini Mukherjee.

Prize money for the event this week is Rs.10 lakh.

Round 1 tee times

Tee 1

8 am: Ananya Datar; Zara Anand (A); Sachika Singh

8:10 am: Snigdha Goswami; Rhea Purvi Saravanan; Seher Atwal

8:20 am: Gauri Karhade; Kriti Chowhan; Sinjini Mukherjee (A)

8:30 am: Disha Kavery; Rhea Jha; Sneha Singh

8.40 am: Riya Yadav; Mehar Atwal; Geetika Ahuja

Tee 10

8:05 am: Yaalisai Verma; Ananya Garg; Hitaashee Bakshi

8:15 am: Trimann Saluja; Karishma Govind; Jasmine Shekar

8:25 am: Khushi Khanijau; Marshneil Prasad; Shweta Mansingh

8:35 am: Anaggha Venkatesh; Yashita Raghav; Ridhima Dilawari

Also read: Hitaashee ends 22-month title wait at Tolly Hero WPGT leg