Zara to join Vidhatri and Heena for Queen Sirikit Cup golf

So, we have a lot of hopes from this trio. Vidhatri, the All India Ladies amateur champion, beat Zara Anand in the finals in December 2023, while Heena lost in the pre-quarters of the match play event.Vidhatri, who has been consistent, won a pro event on the Hero Womens Pro Golf Tour last year, and also represented India at the Womens Amateur Asia-Pacific WAAP and made the cut.

Teenage golfer Zara Anand will replace defending champion Avani Prashanth in the Indian team for the 44th Queen Sirikit Cup next month in New Zealand.

The Noida teenager will join the experienced Vidhatri Urs and Heena Kang as the Indian team competes at the prestigious event, which will be held at the famous Clearwater Golf Course in Christchurch, New Zealand. The event is scheduled from March 20-23.

Heena, Vidhatri and Zara finished in that order on the Indian Golf Union's Order of Merit for 2023.

A year ago at the last edition of the event, Avani became the first Indian to win the individual honours and the Indian team finished second in Manila for their best-ever performance. Avani's teammates last year were Vidhatri Urs and Nishna Patel.

This year Avani will miss the event as she has been given a special invitation to the Sage Valley Junior International in Sage Valley, Graniteville, South Carolina, US. The Sage Valley event will be held in the week March 17-23 and will then proceed to Augusta for the prestigious Augusta Women's National Amateur (ANWA) from April 3-6.

''We have a great crop of young women amateurs and it was a splendid show last year, when Avani won the individuals and India finished second for their best event show,'' said Brijinder Singh, President, Indian Golf Union.

''However, Avani will be away playing in US. So, we now have Vidhatri, who has a lot experience and was in the Indian squad last year.

''Heena has been doing well on the domestic scene and the youngest member of the team, Zara, did well enough to reach the final of the All India Ladies. So, we have a lot of hopes from this trio.'' Vidhatri, the All India Ladies amateur champion, beat Zara Anand in the finals in December 2023, while Heena lost in the pre-quarters of the match play event.

Vidhatri, who has been consistent, won a pro event on the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour last year, and also represented India at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) and made the cut. She was 19th at the 2023 Queen Sirikit Cup.

Heena, who finished the 2023 season at the top of the Merit list, has been consistently finishing in Top-4 of most events on the domestic circuit, but is still searching for her first big win. She was part of the Indian team to the amateur events in Australian and then to the WAAP earlier this month.

Zara, who has been showing great promise for the last couple of years, reached the final of the All India Ladies Amateurs and was fourth at the All India Juniors. She also won a silver medal at the National Games.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)