Vani Kapoor turns pro in season-opening Hero-KGA Women’s Pro event

·       Hero-KGA event to carry Rs. 10 lakhs purse, highest- ever in Domestic Pro event in India

·       Field includes Sharmila, Smriti & Nalini Siwach

Bangalore, August 21: Vani Kapoor, one of India’s most promising talents in women’s golf, will take the big plunge as she turns professional in the season-opener Hero-KGA Women’s Pro golf tournament from Wednesday. Vani, who turned 18 this January, and virtually dominated amateur golf in the country, has represented India at various international amateur events, including the Asian Games and the Queen Sirikit Cup.

The event at the re-done Karnataka Golf Association golf course also marks a landmark partnership between the Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) and the KGA, which is also the home of India’s top women’s pro, Sharmila Nicollet.

The event billed as one of the ‘Majors’ of the WGAI Season 2012-13 carries a total prize purse of Rs. 10 lakhs, the biggest so far in the history of Women’s Professional golf in India. The winner will take home Rs. 2,62,500 and the runners-up takes Rs. 1,80,000.

Vani will join the established women pros, including Sharmila Nicollet, who also plays on the Ladies European Tour, seasoned, Smriti Mehra , Nalini Singh Siwach, Neha Tripathi and Saaniya Sharma among others.

“It is exciting to play as a pro and of course I am a bit nervous. Some butterflies, maybe they will stay till I tee off on Wednesday. But I am sure when I am on the course, things will be normal. It is a course I have played very often, so I am familiar with the layout, even though it was re-done recently. The KGA is a wonderful course,” said Vani.

“I was waiting to turn 18 and since my long-term plan is to play professional golf, I felt this was the ideal time. I wanted to start off right from the opening of the season,” added Vani.

Just under a year ago, Vani, while still being an amateur, won the fifth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Tour by a whopping 10 shots – Nalini Singh Siwach was the top finishing pro at event – at the Golden Greens in Gurgaon.

Coached by DLF Teaching Pro, Anitya Chand, Vani has shown tremendous promise and this professional debut could well be the first step in what could be a great career.

Interestingly, Aditi Ashok, a local, who is still an amateur, will also figure in the tournament. Aditi, like Vani topped a pro event last season. Aditi beat Vani at the All India Ladies Amateur final earlier this year, so their rivalry will be interesting to watch.

Sharmila, who has been playing on the Ladies European Tour also, will be a star attraction at the Hero-KGA event. She topped the Hero-WGAI Order of Merit for two years in a row, but last year she played only 10 of the15 events and ended fourth. “I was also playing in Europe, so I had to miss a few events, but I did win two,” she said.

“Playing at the KGA is always great. It is a course where I spend a lot of time and it is good to see the season starting off here. The competition and the money is going up on the Indian Women’s Pro Tour and I am sure this will continue,” she added.

Smriti Mehra, one of India’s star pros, who also played on the LPGA, won seven of the 15 events last season. She topped the Money List while Nalini Singh Siwach, who won three events, was second. Neha Tripathi was third and Sharmila fourth.

The next two events will also be held in Bangalore, with the second leg at Clover Greens and the third leg at Prestige Golfshire, with a purse of Rs, five lakhs each.

The field also includes Saaniya Sharma and Pallavi Jain, who would be keen to add to the one title each they won last season. Meghna Bal, Preetinder Kaur and Shraddhanjali Singh would be others to look out for.

Sharmila has been paired with Preetinder and local golfer, Rani Sonti, while Vani tees off with Saaniya Sharma and Seema Sobti.

The 2012-13 season is scheduled to have 10 events plus two Majors, one at the start of the season and one right at the end. The 10 events will carry a total purse of Rs, 70 lakhs, an increase of 66 per cent over the last year’s purse of Rs. 42 lakhs.

Tee times for Round 1:

8.30 am:        Nalini Singh Siwach and Suchitra Ramesh (A)

8.40 am:        Smriti Mehra and Nalini Singh

8.50 am:        Aditi Ashok (A), Shraddhanjali Singh and Nikki Ponappa

9.00 am:        Trisha Sunil (A), Ankita Tiwana and Neha Tripathi

9.10 am:        Meghna Bal, Priya Puri and Pallavi Jain

9.20 am:        Saaniya Sharma, Vani Kapoor and Seema Sobti

9.30 am:        Preetinder Kaur, Sharmila Nicollet and Rani Sonti

Regards

Deep

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