Seasoned Neha Tripathi will start as a top contender in the seventh leg of the Hero women's Professional Tour that resumes at the picturesque Prestige Golfshire Golf Course here on Wednesday after a three-month break.
Neha, who won the sixth leg before the Tour broke for summer, registered the Tour's best ever score of 10-under 62, while winning by a massive 14-shot margin at the Classic Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon.
While Vani Kapoor and Sharmila Nicollet, have been playing in Europe and on the Ladies Asian Tour, Neha, Gursimar Badwal and Tvesa Malik have chosen to compete at home.
Vani and Sharmila won the first two events at the start of the season, but after that neither have played at home. In their absence, Gursimar has won two of the four, with one win each for Tvesa and Neha.
Neha and Gursimar have both been consistent.
In her last four starts, Neha has won once, been second twice and fourth once. Meanwhile Gursimar, who won twice in her first five starts, finished her lowest, in ninth place at the sixth leg.
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Veteran Smriti Mehra, Amandeep Drall and Suchitra Ramesh will be the other players to look out for.
With the golfers using the summer break to tune up their skills, the seventh leg should see some good action in the first event of the season in the southern part of the country.
The next six events are scheduled in the south.
Four amateurs figure in the field and that includes Ridhima Dilawari, who is part of the Indian team for the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta in August.
In the first round action, Afshan Fatima and amateur Asmitha Sathish will go out in the first 2-ball, followed by the second 2-ball with Khushi Khanijau and Hita Prakash.
Siddhi Kapoor, Amandeep and Gursimar have been drawn together in match 3, followed by amateur Ridhima, Millie Saroha and Anisha Padukone in match 4.
Promising amateur Pranvi Urs, Tvesa Malik and another amateur Seher Atwal go out together in match 5, while match 6 will see Neha, Sonam Chugh and Smriti teeing off in the penultimate group.
The last group on the first day will see Komal Chaudhary, Suchitra Ramesh and Ayesha Kapur play together.
--IANS
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