High expectations from largest-ever home squad at HWIO 2022

By Rahul Banerji

Home hopes will be pinned on 2016 champion Aditi Ashok at the $400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open which tees off at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon on Thursday.

Ashok leads the largest-ever number of Indians at the national open with 24 professionals and six amateurs in the 114-strong field.

Aditi, India’s sole representative on the high-profile LPGA Tour in the United States, saw her professional career take off when she became the first Indian to win the HWIO six years ago.

Since then, she has won twice more on the Ladies European Tour and largely held her own in the US, but a solid performance this week could see Ashok bounce back after an up-and-down season.

She also knows there will always be expectations of being a standard-bearer as India’s first winner of the tournament.

“I think there’s always pressure,” Ashok said on Tuesday. “My first year on the LET, I felt like I had something to prove. I knew that back home and a lot of little girls would be watching.

“I used to come to this event and I wanted to win because I had never seen an Indian girl win.

Inspirational figure

“So I feel like that’s a big thing to have and the girls can see that an Indian has won this event and they can win this and can play on Tour.

“I’m basically homegrown, If I could reach that level, I think anybody can do it. So yeah, it is pressure, but I feel like it’s also an opportunity to motivate youngsters to do the same.”

Also looking for a good week will be players like Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall, who have been on the fringes of the LET having played a number of tournaments on the tour this season.

While Aditi and LET card-holders Diksha Dagar and Tvesa Malik are among the contenders, others include LPGA Qualifying Series Stage 1 qualifier Pranavi Urs and national women’s champion Avani Prashanth.

Tvesa, who had a standout 2021 season but has struggled this year, said on tournament eve that progressing from the national open to Europe had been a steep learning curve.

“I’ve learned a lot over the last few years and now I’m coming back here to play again and I’m very excited to play at home, so I’m looking forward to it.

“There are so many good players on the Ladies European Tour and everyone has their own way of getting it done.

“At the LET, you have to learn to conserve your energy and kind of find that confidence within yourself to be able to play and trust your game.”

Winners aplenty

Meanwhile, four winners of the ongoing LET season will be in action this week – Meghan MacLaren of England, Spain’s Ana Pelez Trivino, Tiia Koivisto of Finland, and Frenchwoman Anne-Charlotte Mora.

While MacLaren won the Australian Women’s Classic, Trivino topped the field at the Madrid Ladies Open.

Koivisto emerged winner at the Jabra Ladies Open in France and Mora annexed the Aland 100 Ladies Open in Finland.

This sets a high bar for the field and offers home golfers plenty of incentive as a solid performance this week will either help seal next year’s card or open the door to the 2023 season.

Amongst them is rookie pro Sneha Singh, who topped the field at the LET’s Pre-Qualifying Asia Series last week ahead of the Final Qualifier in Spain this December.

Also through to La Manga from the event held at the Classic Golf and Country Club were Hitaashee Bakshi, Seher Atwal, and Neha Tripathi.

Besides national champion Avani Prashanth, another amateur who will be keenly watched this week is US-based Anika Varma, the best-placed Indian in 2019, when she finished in fifth place as a 15-year-old.

Also read: Champs out to regain Hero Women’s Indian Open glory