US tour hopeful Sneha back in action as Hero WPGT resumes

By Rahul Banerji

Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour merit leader Sneha Singh will be among the leading contenders as events resume after a gap at Golden Greens in Gurgaon on Wednesday.

Making the most of the break, former national champion Sneha made sure of a berth in Stage II of the LPGA and Epson Tour qualifying process in California along with Pranavi Urs and Sharmila Nicollet.

At the testing Golden Greens track, Hyderabad’s Sneha now faces a challenge from Gaurika Bishnoi, also a two-time winner this season, besides Tvesa Malik, Ridhima Dilawari and Seher Atwal.

Tvesa, Ridhima and Seher played on the Ladies European Tour with mixed results, and will be looking to tune up ahead of the Hero Women’s Indian Open in October.

Tvesa, who did not have a great 2022 in Europe, is back on the domestic Tour seeking the form that made her one to watch in 2021.

She won the 11^th leg in Bangalore before the break and will be looking forward to another strong showing in Gurgaon.

Looking ahead

For their part, Ridhima and Seher will put aside the recent disappointments on the LET and prepare for the upcoming challenges.

The field has grown considerably this season with the influx of new professionals, and will be 40 strong including six amateurs. A hefty prize purse of Rs.12 lakh is on offer this week.

The amateurs include Nishna Patel, who was runner-up at Asia Pacific Juniors in Manila earlier this year. Another amateur to watch out for is Saanvi Somu, runner-up in both the ninth and 10^th legs of the Tour.

The amateurs have been putting up a strong show this season and Vidhatri Urs, who is not playing this week, won the ninth leg in convincing fashion.

This is a busy month for home golfers who play three domestic events and then the Hero Women’s Indian Open, an LET tournament where some big names will join them in the starting field.

Round 1 tee times

Tee 1

8 am: Rhea Jha, Snigdha Goswami

8:10 am: Gaurika Bishnoi, Smriti Bhargav (A)

8:20 am: Jasmine Shekar, Hitaashee Bakshi, Ishvari Prasanna

8:30 am: Tvesa Malik, Seher Atwal, Asmitha Sathish

8:40 am: Ravjot K Dosanjh, Saanvi Somu (A), Neha Tripathi

8:50 am: Riya Yadav, Nishna Patel (A), Rhea Purvi Saravanan

9 am: Lavanya Jadon (A), Ridhima Dilawari, Shweta Mansingh

9:10 am: Khushi Khanijau, Shagun Narain, Sneha Singh

Tee 10

8 am: Anisha Agarwalla, Gauri Karhade, Yaalisai Verma

8:10 am: Saaniya Sharma, Khushi, Trimann Saluja

8:20 am: Kriti Chowhan, Riya Jadon (A), Nayanika Sanga

8:30 am: Karishma Govind, Geetika Ahuja, Agrima Manral

8:40 am: Ananya Datar, Nandita Kumar (A), Durga Nittur

8:50 am: Sachika Singh, Jyotsana Singh, Suchitra Ramesh

Also read: Indian trio confirm berths in LPGA, Epson Stage II qualifying