Spotlight on Diksha, Seher

India’s no. 1 lady amateur Diksha Dagar set out as favourite at the IGU all-India ladies and junior girls championship, which kicked off at the Chandigarh Golf Course on Tuesday. The 15-year-old from Jhajjar, Haryana, who made her debut in 2013, has been impressive with two wins and seven out of seven top-five finishes in the Ladies category in 2015.

Delhi’s Seher Atwal, winner of the 2015 Western India Ladies Championship and Tvesa Malik, runner-up at the 2015 Southern India championship, are expected to be in the title mix.

Ridhima Dilawari, Gaurika Bishnoi and Nishtha Madan, who finished 12th at the 2015 Queen Sirikit Cup in Hong Kong, will also be looking for top honours.

The year-ending tournament supported by the Punjab Golf Association and Makkar Motors, will feature 49 players including 10 from the junior girls category.

The six-day championship is played over both strokeplay and match play format. The 54-hole stroke play event acts as a qualifying round to select the 16 players, who then play the knockout stage over three rounds.

The tournament will conclude on December 20 with the 36-hole final.The three-day all-India junior girl championship will conclude on December 17.