Singapore, Mar 8 (PTI) Barely 10 days after becoming the first Indian to top the charts at the prestigious Queen Sirikit Cup, 16-year-old Avani Prashanth said she felt no pressure ahead of the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship, which is one of her top priorities this year.
Making her third start at the region’s biggest amateur championship for women, India’s two-time national champion feels she has some unfinished work at the WAAP.
The world number 77 said, “The WAAP is a bookmark event in my calendar every year. And I think obviously I was very disappointed when I played last year, because I fell sick on the first day of the event, so I had no chance of competing because I wasn’t at my best.
“And now coming in from last week (win at Queen Sirikit Cup) puts me in a very positive mindset and that’s what I’m planning on carrying on into the week.” She is aware of what a win at the WAAP could mean and bring with it.
“Winning this week means starts at three Majors including the Women’s Open, the Evian and Chevron Championships. Plus the Augusta National Women’s, the Australian Women’s Open and the Hana.
“That’s a lot of incentive and it can be a game changer if I can get to play all that at 16. I want to be in them as a pro and this week could take me there even earlier,” added Avani.
Interestingly, the best performance by an Indian at WAAP belongs to Anika Varma, who is US based. She was ninth at the 2021 WAAP in Abu Dhabi but did not play last year.
“I have good memories of that,” said Anika, who like Avani and Nishna Patel is making her third start at the WAAP.
Anika added, “Last year I got a spot on the Hero Women’s Indian Open, a LET event in India. I was playing well but on the last I had fever which we later found led to an infection in the kidney.
“The last day of Indian Open I played with 104 fever and was almost delusional at times. Somehow I completed the round. It took me a while to recover. Now I am much better.” While Anika had problems on the final day of the Hero Women’s Indian Open, Avani had her then best result on a Ladies European Tour pro event as she finished tied 12th. She bettered that last month by finishing ninth for her for first Top-10 in LET at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open, which was won by Aditi Ashok.
“Those two results like my wins on the Amateur circuit have given me a lot of confidence,” said Avani.
India’s other players at the WAAP this week are Nishna Patel, Mannat Brar, Vidhatri Urs and Lavanya Jadon.
Also coming with great expectations is the defending champion Chinese Taipei’s 18-year-old Ting-Hsuan Huang, who had a sensational finish at the same event last year at Siam Country Club in Thailand, when she mounted a late charge and made six birdies in her last 11 holes.
That win got her exemptions into three major championships this year – AIG Women’s Open, The Amundi Evian Championship and The Chevron Championship – as well as the Hana Financial Group Championship and an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA).
Minsol Kim, the highest-ranked Korean in the field at WAGR number 15, finished sixth individually in the Queen Sirikit Cup. Last week she felt hugely motivated at seeing her idol and mentor Jin Young Ko win the Women’s Championship in Singapore itself.
Avani and Kim have been paired together for the first two rounds, with Japan’s highest-ranked player in the field, WAGR No. 4 Rin Yoshida. Defending champion Huang is paired with Vivian Lu of New Zealand and Jiyoo Lim of Korea.
Source: PTI News
