Vani to make her first start in 2026 at Kalhaar leg of Hero WPGT

Combo visual of opening leg winner Jasmine Shekar (left) and 2025 Hero Order of Merit topper Vani Kapoor who will be in action at the second event of the season at Ahmedabad’s Kalhaar course from Wednesday. Image courtesy WGAI.

By Rahul Banerji

Order of Merit 2025 topper Vani Kapoor will make her first start in the Kalhaar Blues & Greens leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. 

After missing the season-opener, Vani, who won five times last year, will feature in the second leg alongside other leading names, the WGAi said.

The Kalhaar field includes last week’s winner Jasmine Shekar, runner-up Ridhima Dilawari, Amandeep Drall, Sneha Singh, Heena Kang, Seher Atwal, Vidhatri Urs and rookie pro Saanvi Somu.

Ridhima, who came close to winning last week, will look to making amends for missing out at Bombay Presidency GC.

For her part, Amandeep Drall is looking for the momentum and form she needs to get back to the Ladies European Tour.

On the hunt

Saanvi, who has multiple runner-up finishes as an amateur, is seeking her maiden success on the Hero WPG Tour.

The 40-player field also includes seven amateurs, the most experienced being Zara Anand and Mahreen Bhatia, who have shown tremendous potential. 

Both are likely headed to the US for collegiate golf later this year.

Mahreen won the 15^th and final leg of 2025 at Jaypee Wishtown, beating Vani\ on the way. 

Zara came close to victory twice but finished runner-up at Bangalore Golf Club and DLF GCC in Gurgaon.

Jasmine goes out on Wednesday in the first flight, which is a two-ball, while Vani plays with Ravjot Dosanjh and Vidhatri Urs.

Amandeep and Ridhima will play in the day’s final group.

Round 1 tee times

8:30 am: Jasmine Shekar, Gourabi Bhowmick

8:40 am: Jahanvi Bakshi, Nayanika Sanga

8:50 am: Rhea Purvi Saravanan, Agrima Manral, Eti Chaudhary

9 am: Riddhima Singh (A), Durga Nittur, Aradhana Manikandan (A)

9:10 am: Anaggha Venkatesh, Yashita Raghav, Janneya A. Dasanniee (A)

9:20 am: Ceerat Kang (A), Ananya Garg, Sneha Singh

9:35 am: Ananya Datar, Ketaki Sood, Mahreen Bhatia (A)

9:45 am: Seher Atwal, Prarthana Khanna, Riya Jadon

9:55 am: Esther Lobo, Oviya Reddi, Lavanya Jadon

10:05 am: Shinjini Mukherjee, Karishma Govind, Shweta Mansingh

10:20 am: Shagun Narain, Zara Anand (A), Saanvi Somu

10:30 am: Gauri Karhade, Anisha Agarwalla, Lavanya Gupta (A)

10:40 am: Ravjot K. Dosanjh, Vidhatri Urs, Vani Kapoor

10:50 am: Khushi Khanijau, Ridhima Dilawari, Amandeep Drall

 Also read: Jasmine Shekar opens Hero WPGT 2026 season with BPGC title