Diksha Dagar, the youngest Indian woman titlist on the Ladies European tour, will be leading the charge from the Indian side in the 13th edition of the Hero Indian Women’s Open which starts on Thursday. As a professional this will be her first appearance after playing as an amateur the last three years. “It is going to be exciting, playing as a professional here for the first time,” said the 18-year-old Diksha.
The Open is a prestigious tournament which boasts of the defending champion Becky Morgan, 2017 winner Camille Chevalier and other leading names like Carly Booth, Beth Allen, and Solheim Cup 2019 winning team Europe’s captain Catriona Matthew. Various LET winners like Meghan MacLaren, Marianne Skarpnord, Kanyalak Preedasuttijit, Astrid Vayson de Pradenne, Florentyna Parker and Linda Wessberg will also make the competition stiff.
With the participation of a total of 22 Indians, which includes six amateurs, the home golfers are hopeful of making their presence felt. Diksha, Vaani Kapoor, Gaurika Bishnoi, Tvesa Malik, Ridhima Dilawari, who turned pro last year, Amandeep Drall, Astha Madan, Gursimar Badwal and others will also lend to the local flavour.
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Diksha, who currently stands 55th in the Olympic rankings, says it has overall been a good year. “I started really well in Australia and that helped me to win in South Africa (the Women’s Open this March). Since then, I have been playing tournaments on different courses, travelling a lot. The South Africa Open win gave me breathing space in terms of equipment, and now that I have secured my card, I can now try different equipment, clubs, specifications.”
This is the first major sporting event in India to discourage single-use of plastic bottles.