New Delhi [India], April 28 (ANI): Ace Indian golfer Gaurika Bishnoi said that the women’s talent pool in India is lesser in comparison to the men and hence, players find it difficult to carve a niche in the Ladies European Tour.
2022 marks the 44th season of golf tournaments since the LET was founded in 1978 and the third edition of the Race to Costa Del Sol. This year’s schedule includes 31 events in 21 different countries and a record-breaking prize fund of 24.5 million euros.
Bishnoi is looking to top the order of merit this season. She is currently taking part in the Asian games 2022 trials in Bengaluru.
Talking about the representation of Indian players on the Ladies European Tour, the 23-year-old told ANI: “I feel the overall women talent pool is less in India in comparison to men, hence the lower representation of Indian girls on the LET. The change needs to start at the grassroot level, but the upcoming generation looks extremely promising and I’m certain in no time we will have more and more Indian girls doing well on the world stage.”
Only Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar have been able to carve a niche among Indian players in the LET.
Shedding light on her season and her expectations from it, Bishnoi said: “My season so far has been pretty great, I have played 6 events on the WGAI and finished inside top 5 in all of them. I have shot my personal best of -7 last month. So all in all I am happy with how my game is trending, I am looking forward to sharpening it during my off season in May. My only expectation from this year is that I consistently want to improve every tournament, and play to my potential.”
In February, Indian Open 2022 got cancelled. First staged in 1964, the 56th edition of the Indian Open was due to be held from February 17 to 20 at the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram. The tournament was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, too, due to the pandemic.
Bishnoi on cancellation said: “Indian Open is the biggest women’s tournament that comes to India, so definitely hearing about the cancellation was disheartening. But, at the end of the day, I feel the decision taken by the sponsors and the committee is in our best interests only.”
Golfer also shared about her upcoming plans, she said: “Looking forward to a month of off-season in May to work on my game. The WGAI season restarts in June for us. Also, hoping to get a few starts on the Ladies European tour later in the year.”
The young golfer also appeared in the Ballantine’s Golf Championship, earlier this month, which was India’s first-ever Mixed Pro golf tournament. Sharing her experience, she said: “I had a fantastic experience that week. I was lucky to be paired with Yuvraj Sandhu and Sunit Chowrasia, two of the best pros in the country.”
“Learnt a lot watching them play. Our team was definitely one of the strongest in the field, all in all, I am pretty happy with how we played last week. We fell shy of winning by just two shots which easily could’ve been covered by our team, but nonetheless, it was a great experience for me,” she added. (ANI)