Vani, Vidhatri return to action in second leg of Hero WPGT

Winner of the opening Hero WPGT leg in Jamshedpur, Rhea Purvi Sarvanan will be hoping to extend her solid start to the 2025 season in Kolkata. Image courtesy WGAI.

By Rahul Banerji 

Season-opening event winner Rhea Purvi Sarvanan will have seasoned competition to cope with at the second leg of the Hero WPGT which tees off in Kolkata on Wednesday.

A week after winning her maiden professional title, Rhea has the privilege of teeing off in the first group at Tollygunge Club and with the likes of Vani Kapoor and Vidhatri Urs back in action, faces a tough test of her consistency.

Rhea will open alongside Durga Nittur and Lavanya Jadon, who made her pro debut only last week. They are among the 33 scheduled to compete for the Rs.13 lakh purse at the Tolly, the WGAI said.

Rhea, who shot 72-72-71 last week, is hoping to build on her early success as the event sees the return to action of Vidhatri, who made a successful start to her pro career in 2024, Vani and Ridhima Dilawari, all multiple winners on the Tour.

Early success

Last season’s Order of Merit winner, Hitaashee Bakshi is skipping the event, as is Jamshedpur runner-up Saanvi Somu, who lost to Rhea in the title playoff.

Sneha Singh, the 2023 Order of Merit winner, and Jasmine Shekar, who won twice each in 2024, will be hoping for early success in 2025.

The field also includes Neha Tripathi, who tied for fifth last week, Jasmine Shekar, who was third in the first leg and Durga Nittur, who was fourth.

Amandeep Drall is seeking to find the form that saw her play on the Ladies European Tour, while other past winners looking for a good start to the season are Seher Atwal and Anvitha Narender.

The dark horses could be Khushi Khanijau and Shweta Mansingh, both with the ability to do well.

The three amateurs in the field are Anaahat Bindra, Mehak Lohan and Heena Kang.

Round 1 tee times

8 am: Rhea Purvi Saravanan, Durga Nittur, Lavanya Jadon

8:10 am: Vidhatri Urs, Anaggha Venkatesh, Anaahat Bindra (A)

8:20 am: Nayanika Sanga, Karishma Govind, Seher Atwal

8:30 am: Sneha Singh, Khushi Khanijau, Anvitha Narender

8:45 am: Shweta Mansingh, Amandeep Drall, Mehak Lohan (A)

8:55 am: Kriti Chowhan, Anahita Singh, Yaalisai Verma

9:05 am: Geetika Ahuja, Anisha Agarwalla, Ravjot K. Dosanjh

9:15 am: Ananya Garg, Jahaanvie Walia, Rhea Jha

9:30 am: Ridhima Dilawari, Chitrangada Singh, Heena Kang (A)

9:40 am: Agrima Manral, Jasmine Shekar, Snigdha Goswami

9:50 am: Gourabi Bhowmick, Neha Tripathi, Vani Kapoor

Also read: Rhea claims maiden title with Golmuri play-off win over Saanvi