From L-R – Janniya Dassani, Avani Prashanth, Ms Sunita Kattarya (IGU Appointed Manager) & Sneha Singh.
India’s 3 member lady amateur team, Avani Prashanth, Sneha Singh and Janniya Dassani, have arrived for the 42nd Queen Sirikit Cup ( Asia Pacific Amateur Team Championship) in Singapore from May 24-27.
The tournament will be played at The Master Course, Laguna National Golf Resort over 72 holes.
All eyes will be on 15 year old Avani who has been in great form in the past few months. Sneha too with two wins against the pros on the Hero WPGT already this year could be a strong finisher. The team will look to improve on the performance in the 2019 edition of the Queen Sirikit Cup, when Team India, then represented by Anika Varma, and teenage sisters Hitaashee and Jahanvi Bakshi, finished tied sixth alongside Japan with a total score of 6-over 444.
Over the past five decades, the Queen Sirikit Cup has been graced by many of the best-known names in the world of women’s golf, including several World No. 1 ranked players and major champions such as Australians Karrie Webb, Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, China’s Feng Shanshan, Chinese Taipei’s Tseng Ya-ni, Japan’s Ai Miyazato, Koreans Pak Se-ri, Ryu So-yeon, Shin Ji-yae and Kim Hyo-joo, New Zealander Lydia Ko and Thai Patty Tavatanakit, among others.
Indian team selection in 2022
The IGU conducted selection trials in April, where a total of seven girls from the IGU’s national amateur rankings competed in a gruelling 90-hole qualifying tournament for two spots in extreme heat at the tough Noida Golf Club course.
Sneha Singh, the 17-year-old amateur sensation from Hyderabad, ran away with the trials, winning by a whopping nine strokes from Janniya Dassani, who also earned a place on the team as the third member.
Avani Prashanth, the 15 year old from Bangalore who is India’s highest ranked player in the amateur world rankings, was exempted from the qualifying tournament following her excellent performances in the USA over the past few weeks, including a 21st place finish at the prestigious Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Prashanth was the leading Indian player last November at the Asian Women’s Amateur, where she finished 16th, and is rated as one of the best 15-year-old female golfers in the world. She is also the current National Junior and Ladies champion.