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Saturday, Feb 03, 2007
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Foreign players to add to competition

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The presence of foreign players is expected to add spice to the 90th edition of the all-India ladies amateur golf championship to be played at the Delhi Golf Club course here from February 6 to 11.

Fourteen ladies from Zimbabwe and a lone junior entry from Sri Lanka will challenge the Indians led by Shruti Khanna in this match-play event. The event will be hosted in the Capital every four years.

Zimbabwe's challenge

The trio of Jessie Nyakatawa, Alex Bell and Tessa Covell form Zimbabwe's team challenge. Jessie has a handicap of -5 while her mates are -7 handicappers.

Tessa, on her 11th visit to India, will be making her ninth appearance in the championship.

The former Zambian and Zimbabwean National champion is instrumental in getting the players from Zimbabwe.

With only Maleena Maryam Awn participating from Sri Lanka, only India and Zimbabwe will be in contention for the Agarwal International Trophy.

Jessie, who is also the President of the Zimbabwean Ladies Golf Union and fifth on her country's Order of Merit, told mediapersons here on Friday, "We want to be taken seriously for the title. Though we are still getting to know the course, I think we are good enough to take away the title," said Jessie soon after a practice round.

Stroke-play event

The four-day match-play event will be preceded by the 36-hole stroke-play competition for the Billoo Sethi Challenge Trophy.

Restricted to only those with handicaps of -12 or less, the event offers 16 qualifying spots for the match-play format that culminates with a 36-hole final on February 11.

Concurrently, DT Salver will be the qualifying event for the Vikramaditya Trophy (for handicaps -13 to -24) and the AVM Trophy will precede the DT Challenge Trophy (-25 to -36).

The field of around 100 golfers includes 20 juniors who will vie for the VST Junior Trophy.

Apart from the vastly experienced Shruti, who won three of the eight regional titles in the season, teenagers Meghna Bal, Vaishavi Sinha, Laverry Kumar and Nalini Singh will also be taking part.

Second on the Order of Merit behind Shruti, Meghna finished ninth in the Doha Asian Games after four sub-par rounds. She also won two regional titles this season.

Vaishavi, another member of the Asiad squad and winner of the Madras Open, is another exciting prospect. Laverry Kumar, the Noida Open champion, is also promising.

The only leading name missing from the field is Sharmila Nicollet. A member of the Asiad squad, the 15-year-old is busy preparing for her exams.

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