Greater Noida: The Albatross Junior Tour has added the Annika Sorenstam ANNIKA Invitational India Qualifier to its calendar. The qualifier was played alongside the 43rd Albatross junior golf tournament, here at Jaypee Greens.
At the end of the two-day tournament, six lucky girls earned themselves a berth in the Asia Qualifier of the ANNIKA Invitational. Millie Saroha, Vidushi Sinha, Vrishali Sinha, from category-A, and Ridhima Dilawari, Seher Atwal and Gurjot Badwal from category-B, will be teeing it up at Mission Hills in August this year – and maybe even in Orlando, Florida, at the ANNIKA Invitational Junior Golf Tournament, in January 2013. Saroha won her category comfortably, by seven strokes, while Dilawari took the honours by three shots.
The first two spots in each category get free return airfare to participate in the event at Mission Hills, which will be held on the Annika Course from August 22 to 24, 2012. Subsequently, based on their performances in China, a few exemptions may be given to these players to compete in Orlando early next year.
The other girl winners today were Sachika Singh (category-C) and Tanishka Kumar (category-D). Meanwhile in category-E, Puneet Kaur Bajwa edged Ishaan Kataria in a close contest. Besides receiving trophies, the top three girls in each category also took home autographed photos of Sorenstam, the former world number one and a legend of the women’s game.
The ANNIKA Foundation has partnered with the American Junior Golf Association to establish an invitational golf tournament for the top U.S. and international junior girl golfers. In addition, participants would get to experience collegiate and professional golf, and learn about ‘off-course’ elements, including media training and the importance of health and nutrition.
Among the boys, Ankur Chadha continued his recent good form with a commanding victory in category-A; Chadha (one-over 145) finished 11 shots ahead of his closest challenger. And he wasn’t the only one who had it easy at the par-72 Jaypee Greens. Karan Pratap Singh (category-C) and Harshjeet Singh Sethi (category-D) swept to facile wins, by 12 and nine shots respectively. Things, however, were much tighter in category-B, with Kushmanraj Singh prevailing by a stroke over Arjun Chandnani.
Indian Sports News Network
