Prashanth Retains All-India Title at Royal Calcutta

Kolkata, India: Teenager Avani Prashanth is closing in on a place in the top-100 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

Putting the seal on an outstanding year, the 16-year-old lived up to her billing as favourite by successfully defending her title in the 108th edition of the All-India Ladies Amateur Championship.

Having topped the leaderboard in the 36-hole stroke play segment with an even-par total of 144 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, Prashanth proved unstoppable in match play, winning five matches.

In the 36-hole final, Prashanth never trailed, eventually overcoming Mannat Brar 3&2 to claim her sixth win of 2022.

Already India’s leading player in the WAGR, Prashanth’s latest triumph saw her rise a further two spots to 109th. Brar, meanwhile, improved her standing by 35 places to 508th.

Among Prashanth's many highlights this year, she finished 21st in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and participated in last month’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship in Thailand.

A three-time winner on the domestic women’s professional Tour, Prashanth also represented India in this year’s Queen Sirikit Cup in Singapore and will be a member of the India team at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou in China, alongside Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik.

Also moving up in the WAGR is Chinese Taipei’s Chen Yu-chu.

A fortnight after finishing in a share of 29th place at the WAAP, Chen topped the class in the National Senior High Championship in her homeland.

Chen began the championship with a 68 to take the first-round lead and never relinquished it. She added further scores of 72, 69 and 72 for a 281 aggregate to win by four shots.

As a result, she has soared 116 places in the WAGR to 431st.

However, it was Korean Elise Lee who had the distinction of making the biggest jump of the week, rising 1,012 positions to 870th after finishing fourth in the Rolex Tournament of Champions.

Among the men, Malaysian Zia Iqmal jumped 1,147 places to 904th with his victory in the Perlis Amateur Open. It his third win of the year.