Tvesa faces stronger field in 13th leg of Hero WPGT at Jaypee Greens

On a roll after bagging her second title in a matter of five starts, promising golfer Tvesa Malik will be up against the likes of Amandeep Drall and Neha Tripathi in the 13th leg of the Hero womens Pro Tour at the Jaypee Greens here from Wednesday.

Tvesa, who won on a challenging Delhi Golf Club Course last week in rather wet conditions, will see the return of Amandeep and Neha, who were away playing in Europe last week. But Vani Kapoor has decided to stay back in Europe to play the Lacoste Ladies Open next week.

The return of Amandeep, who is second on the order of merit, will once again renew the competition for merit honours between her and Gaurika Bishnoi, who moved to the top a week ago.

Gaurika could go beyond the Rs 10 lakh-mark if she wins the Rs six lakh event at the Jaypee Greens. Gaurika leads with total winnings of Rs 9,06,400, Amandeep has amassed Rs 8,77,500 and third placed Gursimar Badwal has made Rs 7,39,200.

Major challengers this week will include Gursimar, who has won twice this season, and Saaniya Sharma, who has won once and shown good form of late.

Kolkata veteran Smriti Mehra is still looking for her first win this season, as is Siddhi Kapoor, who did well to finish second at the 12th leg.

Neha, who has not been very consistent this season, despite a win at the start, will also seek to bring some cheer to her supporters.

The draw for the first round shows Tvesa playing with Smriti and Sonam Chugh in the last group while Gursimar, Amandeep and Suchitra Ramesh will be the first to go out.

Saaniya has been paired with Neha and Anisha Padukone, while Siddhi will play alongside Afshan Fatima and Gaurika.

Ayesha Kapur, Trisha Sunil and Mehar Atwal are paired together.

--IANS

tri/dg