Pranavi will look to carry her Asian Games confidence at the Indian Open golf

With five former winners in the fray including the defending champion Shannon Tan, the 2026 Hero Women’s Indian Open golf will not only be keen to live up to its reputation as the marquee event for the sport in the country but also be a challenge for Indians hoping to break through over the next four days.

Among those targeting a good showing and a possible title at the DLF Golf and Country Club here would be recently crowned Asian Games champion Pranavi Urs and her team-bronze winning comptriots Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok, the latter the only Indian till date to win the event in its 17 iterations way back in 2016.

Singapore’s Tan, who pulled off a come-from-behind one-stroke win against Alice Hewson in 2025 and finished third in Aichi-Nagoya, will be looking to burnish her reputation on the difficult course for the $500,000 event.

She will have to contend with England’s Liz Young (2024 winner), Germany’s Olivia Cowan (2022), Camille Chevalier (2017) and Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum, a three-time winner and one of the 10 sponsor invitees.

Also in contention will be former LET Order of Merit winners Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini and Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab. Eleanor Givens of England, Thai Aunchisa Utama, Germany’s Leonie Harm and Agathe Laisné of France are among the other winners this season.

Among other top Indians in the fray are Avani Prashanth and Vani Kapoor, both having finished among the top-10 last time around in what was one of the strongest overall performance by Indians in recent times.

Pranavi, expectedly in the spotlight after her victory on the final shot of the final day to become the first Indian woman to win the Asian Games, will hope to carry the confidence and the momentum over the weekend for a shot at her maiden title on the Ladies European Tour (LET).

The 23-year-old, who finished fourth last year, is among the four Indians from the LET in competition — besides Aditi, Diksha and Hitaashee Bakshi, who was third last time around after slipping on the final day. She has been paired with Tan and Camille for the first two days.