Avani Prashanth will captain a six-member Indian team at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 3 November 2022

The six-person Indian team will be led by promising youngster Avani Prashanth at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific tournament, which gets underway and is being held at the Siam Country Club.

The competition includes 86 elite athletes from 21 nations. Along with Avani, the other Indians competing are newbies Mannat Brar and Ceerat Kang, Sifat Sagoo, who tied for 25th place last year, Kriti Chowhan, who placed 34th, and Nishna Patel, who missed the cut.

Avani, who finished Tied -16 at the competition in Abu Dhabi the previous year, has since competed in ten international tournaments outside of India. Last month, she competed in the Hero Women's Indian Open, a Ladies European Tour event, where she tied for 12th place with the same-best final-day round of 5-under 67.

The top-ranked Indian added,  “I think playing with the best last year, I definitely had a couple of areas to work on. They have gotten much better this year. So I think I definitely have a better chance to win it this year than I did last year."

Avani, who turned 16 last month, said, “The 8th and 9th are super difficult because you're hitting directly into the wind, and then a couple holes on the back nine. I think, if I take care of those maybe four or five holes, I'm really going to end up playing well this week.

“So we're getting a lot of long clubs in because of the amount of wind that's there. Mainly to hit those long irons well and not drop any unnecessary shots would be my main target. I also need to take advantage of the holes that are short. It would be great if I don't drop any shots and take advantage of those.”

Sagoo, a student and golfer at Purdue University, arrived after midnight on Tuesday following a 23-hour flight from the US.

The highest-ranked player this week is Saki Baba of Japan, who placed fourth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) after winning the US Amateur Championship.

The competition takes place right after Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul, the first WAAP winner in 2018 and a runner-up in 2019, last week rose to the top spot in the world rankings.

Atthaya, now 19 years old, won the Race to the Costa del Sol (Order of Merit), Rookie of the Year, and Player of the Year Awards during her first professional season on the Ladies European Tour.