Indian Women’s Team for WATC
Avani Prashanth fresh from a Top-5 finish at the Hero Women’s Indian Open will spearhead the Indian challenge a the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship (WWATC) for the Espirito Santo Trophy in Abu Dhabi. A total of 36 teams will compete for the honours in 2023.
Avani Prashanth is the 2023 Queen Sirikit Cup individual champion and recently won the Ahlsell Open, a Ladies European Tour Access Series event in Sweden. She was also T-5 at the LET event, the Hero Women’s Indian Open and was T-8 at the Kenyan Ladies Open earlier in the year.
She plans to play the LET Q-School later this year.
Nishna Patel was the runner-up in individuals at the APGC Juniors and Mannat Brar has represented India on different occasions.
Sweden will try to become the first team to win consecutive WWATC titles since the Republic of Korea accomplished the feat in 2010 and 2012. The Swedes’ Espirito Santo win last year was their third overall and first since 2008.
The United Arab Emirates is playing in its first Women’s World Amateur Team Championship.
As many as 14 of the world’s Top-20 are playing in the event, led by Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad and No. 3 Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio of Spain. The other top stars are Minsol Kim (KOR) at No. 4, Julia Lopez Ramirez (ESP) at No. 5, Anna Davis (USA) at No. 6, Helen Briem (GER) at No. 7, Lottie Woad (ENG) at No. 9 and Meja Ortengren (SWE) at No. 10.
Another strong star in the field is Eila Galitsky of Thailand, who won the 2023 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific, the second player from her country to win the title. She competed in three professional majors this year, including a low-amateur (T28) finish in the Chevron Championship in April.
Anna Davis won the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and competed in seven LPGA Tour events last year, including three major championships, making the 36-hole cut five times.
The United States of America is attempting to win the Eisenhower Trophy and Espirito Santo Trophy together in the same year for the eighth time.
The U.S. is the only country to accomplish this feat and last did so in 1984. Last week, the American team of Nick Dunlap, David Ford and Gordon Sargent won the men’s championship by 11 strokes.
Celine Manche, of Belgium, is the oldest player at 27 and Sofia Cherif Essakali, of Morocco, is the youngest at 14. Louise Landgraf, of France, Hyosong Lee, of the Republic of Korea, and Singapore’s Xington Chen are also 14 years old.
