Avani ends season on a high

Bengaluru: Teen wonder Avani Prashanth ended her breakthrough season with another title at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club in Ahmedabad on Friday. The 15-year-old Bengalurean annexed the IGU All-India junior golf championship with a six-shot victory over Puneet Kaur and defending champion Sneha Singh in Category ‘A’ (15-17 years).
Avani, who had clinched the all-India Ladies crown three weeks ago, completed a rare All-India double in both the senior and junior categories. Sneha Singh had done it in 2019 and Indian golf’s poster girl, Aditi Ashok, won the double in 2014.
Avani, the ninth standard student of Greenwood High International School, would have hoped to have gone lower, but the windswept course and the tricky greens made scoring difficult.
Avani shot two-over 74 on the final day for a cumulative score of six-over 222. Puneet Kaur and Sneha finished on 12-over 228.
The highlight of Avani’s round was an eagle two on the par-4 13th hole. She holed a 120-yard gap wedge second shot following a 7-wood tee shot.
“It feels great to end the year on a winning note,” said Avani, who also won two Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour titles this year. “My scores could have been better, but Kalhaar was playing pretty tough,” added the highest-ranked Indian on the World Amateur Golf Rankings at 136. The talented golfer, one of the top 100 child prodigies, will receive the prestigious Global Child Prodigy Award in Dubai in February.
BIG WIN FOR BINU
Another Karnataka golfer, Shaurya Binu, got a breakthrough win, clinching the boys’ Category ‘A’ title with a seven-shot victory over Krishna Nikhil Chopra. Shaurya, who trains at the Tarun Sardesai Golf Academy based out of Zion Hills Golf County in Kolar, shot a closing one-under 71. He finished with a four-day total of one-over 289.
This was the 17-year-old’s maiden title in the junior ranks. Shaurya, who also plays on the IGU amateur tour, had finished third in the Western India amateurs recently.
Final scores: Category ‘A’ (15-17 years): Boys: 289: Shaurya Binu (Kar, 73, 71, 74, 71); 296: Krishna Nikhil Chopra (Del); 300: Shat Mishra (Har).Girls: 222: Avani Prashanth (Kar, 75, 73, 74); 228: Puneet Kaur Bajwa (Pun), Sneha Singh (Tel).Category ‘B’ (13-14): Boys: 298: Aarav D Shah (UP); 317: Gurnavjeet S Bhatia (Pun); 320: Manoj S (Kar, 81, 78, 88, 73). Girls: 234: Ananya Garg (Mah); 235: Janneya A Dasanniee (Guj).Category ‘C’ (11-12): Boys: 217: Kanav Chauhan (UP); 220: Kartik Singh (Del).Girls: 246: Anuradha Chaudhari (Mah); 248: Riya Jadon (Har); 251: Dia Cris Kumar (Kar, 86, 85, 80).