Aditi stuns Vani to win Usha All India Ladies amateur golf
December 18th, 2011 - 7:34 pm ICT by IANSChandigarh, Dec 18 (IANS) Thirteen-year-old Aditi Ashok won the biggest title of her young career by upstaging the fancied Vani Kapoor in a tense 36-hole final at the Usha All India Ladies Amateur championships at the Chandigarh Golf Club here Sunday.
Aditi, who started as the underdog in the final, and was four years younger in age, grabbed the title 3 and 2 as the marathon final ended in 34 holes, two holes earlier than scheduled.
It was Vani who grabbed a two-hole lead at the end of the first half. In a see-saw battle, Aditi opened a narrow one-shot lead after the first nine holes, but Vani won the 10th, 12th and 15th to go two-up and she held that lead after 18 holes.
At that stage it clearly looked Vani had the upper hand. But the Bangalore golfer fought back strongly. She won three holes over the next nine and when the duo turned for the final nine, it was Aditi, who held the advantage of one hole after 27 holes.
Displaying some amazing putting, Aditi, who had six birdies in all during the final, increased her lead to three by the time the match ended on the 34th.
The win capped a wonderful season for Aditi, who is also the winner of the Malaysian Open junior title. She also won the Eastern India title a few weeks ago.
Vani won the Western India and Northern India ladies title. Interestingly, both Aditi and Vani topped one tournament each in the professional circuit where they played as amateurs.
Aditi also made the Indian team for the Usha Queen Sirikit Cup, where India finished fourth, equalling their best ever performance in the Asia-Pacific team championships. Both Aditi and Vani were teammates in that tournament.
Vani came into the final tournament of the year as the leader on the Order of Merit and Aditi was third. The second-placed Gurbani was eliminated earlier in the quarter-finals of the match play.
In the semi-finals, Aditi had beaten Millie Saroha 3 and 2 and Vani had a big 6 and 4 win over Ankita Kedlaya.
Usha are supporting the regional events, Southern India, the Northern India, Western and Eastern India and the All India Amateur events on the IGU Ladies circuit.
The All India Amateur Ladies golf dates back to 1906 and it is now more than 100 years old, though the event was not held a few times in the 1940s.
- Vani, Aditi to clash for Usha All India Ladies golf title - Dec 17, 2011
- Aditi to lock horns with Gurbani in golf - Sep 18, 2011
- Vani edges out Gurbani to win Usha Northern India golf - Nov 17, 2011
- Mehar Atwal wins Southern India Ladies golf title - Sep 22, 2011
- Mehar Atwal keeps lead, Vani second at Usha Southern India golf - Sep 21, 2011
- Gurbani maintains lead in Usha DGC Ladies Open - Nov 23, 2011
- Vani takes first round lead at Usha Western India Ladies Open - Oct 11, 2011
- Aditi leads Indian challenge at Queen Sirikit Cup - Apr 24, 2012
- Aditi in lead in Usha Delhi Ladies golf - Apr 17, 2012
- Vani takes lead in Usha Northern India golf, Gurbani second - Nov 16, 2011
- Aditi grabs Usha Delhi Ladies golf title - Apr 19, 2012
- Mehar Atwal in lead at Usha southern India ladies golf - Sep 20, 2011
- India complete double as Manav, Anisha win titles at Bangladesh Open golf - Feb 04, 2012
- Two-shot lead for Aditi Ashok at Usha Delhi Ladies golf - Apr 18, 2012
- Gurbani grabs Golf title in Sri Lanka, Chikka runner-up - Oct 22, 2011
Tags: amateur championships, amateur golf, ashok, asia pacific, birdies, chandigarh golf club, eastern india, gurbani, match play, millie, northern india, order of merit, professional circuit, quarter finals, queen sirikit cup, semi finals, underdog, usha, vani, western india