Avani Prashanth shot 9-under 279 to register a T-4th finish in Abu Dhabi
17-year-old Avani Prashanth of Bangalore continued to rewrite Indian golf history books by recording the best finish ever, man or woman, at the World Amateur Team championships by recording a 4th place finish with rounds of 68-68-71-72. The tournament, which saw 3 member teams from 20 countries compete for the prestigious Espirito Santo Trophy, was held in Abu Dhabi.
Back in 1966, among the Indian men, India’s then No 1 amateur Maj PG ( Billoo) Sethi was lying 6th playing the final round at the World Amateur Men’s championship but dropped back on the final day, as per his team-mate Ashok Malik.
Mannat Brar of Chandigarh and Nishna Patel from Mumbai, the two other Indians on the team, carded rounds of 72-74-72-85 and 75-80-74-76 respectively but the Indian team could only manage a disappointing 16th place finish after a promising Round 1 where they were lying 4th.
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Still there is improvement in the Indian ladies team position compared to the previous years:
Women’s Team India at the Espirito Santo Trophy ( World Team Amateur) –
2023 – 16th
2022 – 34th
2018 – T-25th
2016 – 31st
Avani was only one stroke back starting the final round and after the front nine was still in contention but a cold putter left her four strokes adrift – still a remarkable performance by India’s most promising player today. She is the first Indian golfer to secure a victory on the LET Access Series Tour ( and did it as an amateur) and by clinching the prestigious Asia Pacific Amateur Team individual title by 10 strokes at the Queen Sirikit Cup in Philippines this March. She consistently sets new benchmarks for aspiring golfers to emulate.