Aggressive Hitashee's lead gives trailing sister Jahanvi reason to cheer

Gurugram: Round 3 of the Women’s Indian Open at the DLF Golf Resort and Club brought in spectators in good numbers cheering on the Indian professionals’ good show and among them were a group of little girls aspiring to become golfers. Their tour experience was organised by Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI).

It was another good day out for the Indian golfers with Hitaashee Bakshi on top of the leaderboard.

Continuing from a good Round 2 on Friday (October 10), she looked fired up from the onset for the third round on Saturday. Starting the day at 7-under, she managed to keep the momentum in the first few holes before going under par in the 5th and 6th taking her score to 10 under at one stage.

She displayed her aggressive style which turned out to be in her favour and kept her at the top. Her nearest rival Alice Hewson is 6-under and it looks like it will be a difficult task catching up with the leader in the final round on Sunday (October 12) keeping in mind the way Hitaashee has performed.

Pranavi Urs, another Indian is 3rd on the list, with a score of 4-under after a not so good day compared to the Round 2 where she went 5-under. But all is not lost as Round 4 on Saturday can be a big day for her especially if she can replicate her performance of Round 2.

Zara Anand who impressed one and all with her composure at the young age of 17 is sitting tied 4th on the list after a day where she would have liked to perform better.

Jahanvi Bakshi, Hitaashee’s sister who is also in the competition and is at 55th position with a score of 11-over has not had an ideal tournament but is relieved to have finally played in a tournament after an injury lay-off of three years.

Setting aside her performance, she is thrilled to see her sister thrive in what can be called their home course as they both practice here.

She sounds content with the way she has made a comeback and get on the tour.

Hitashee Bakshi during the third round's play (LET pic)

Their father Navneet Bakshi who is serving in the army is thrilled to bits when asked about how it feels to be a father of two golfers.

He said, “I am more than happy and it feels great to be known as the father of Jahnavi and Hitaashee. We were always in sports and golf happened to be the game we used to play. It was there that my daughters held onto this sport and I could see their interest in it. At that time golf was not very popular as it was considered to be more of an elite sport. There were hardly 6-7 girls when they started.”

Alumni of Army Public School Dhaula Kuan, it has been the support of their parents and especially their mother Sunita Bakshi who is more involved with their game, according to their father.

When asked about the competition and the relation between the two sisters, Jahanvi said, “Sibling rivalry is a common question. But it is more of a healthy competition than anything else and it is basically a blessing to have your own sister playing the same sport as it kind of compliments both of us and helps in practicing too as it can sometimes be too tiring to spend 7-8 hours on the course alone.

“It has also been helpful since we practice in this very course so it becomes a known territory as DLF Golf course can be overwhelming if is your first time. Moreover, our personalities differ as she is the aggressive one and I am more calm and it can be seen in the style we play the game as well. It helps us both to have a different approach to the game as we usually help each other by guiding each other in a way where I tell her that she could have hit it better with a calmer approach and she telling me to have an aggressive approach in some shots. Very proud of how she has performed and keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow.”

All in all it looks like we may see an Indian winner after nine long years and we all will be keeping our fingers crossed for Sunday, the Round 4.

Tags : Hitashee Bakshi, Women's Indian Open, Women's Golf, Alice Hewson, Zara Anand