All India Ladies Golf C’ship:

Maleena’s impressive display on Bangalore Golf Course

Richard DWIGHT

The fifteen year old Maleena Awn of Ladies College does have a fondness for competitive golf and, as well for the tough rigorous sport of sailing, where every sinew and nerve is strained against the elements.

Evidence of her ability in both forms of sport, are supported by the fact that she enjoys a measure of success over the local golf tournaments here, and the added satisfaction of winning the stableford event at the last All India Ladies Amateur Golf Championship held in 2007 at Delhi and, her being placed 5th last year in the Malaysian open Amateur ladies golf championship held at Langakawi -whilst in sailing she is a National Sri Lanka ‘Optimist’ sailor, with the distinction of having won a gold medal at the recently concluded South Asian Regatta.

Maleena did bring her hitherto gained experience and resilience to bear on the 91st all India Ladies Amateur golf championship last week, where she performed remarkably well, playing with much skill and determination to secure for herself the third place, in the silver division of the tournament.

This six-day prestigious annual golf competition had a wide array of 200 lady golfers vying for championship honours in the respective gold and silver categories from the 29th of January to the 3rd February 2008 at the Eagleton Golf course in Bangalore, India.

The qualifying contest was played in the stroke play format over 36 holes form the 29th to the 30th of January where the top 16 players of each category qualified for the four-day all India main tournament that proceeded int he match play format with no handicap allocations.

Maleena was impressive in the preliminary stroke play two rounds of the silver division, to be among the 16, all of whom qualified to play int he decisive match play tournament.

Young as she was, Maleena pitted against far more experienced and reputed players did well to hold her own to move into the semi final with two hard fought victories against Dhanaluxmi Rice in the 19th hole and, in the quarter Dhanaluxmi Rice int he 19th hole and, in the quarter finals she got the better of Sharmeen Chinoy on the par 4 - 18th hole with a birdie - her play here was marked by excellent golf with a couple of birdies and pars to forge ahead.

In the semi final Maleena was up against the experienced and much older Mita Govunda from Bombay, a 13 handicapper and the holder of the India’s West Zone ladies golf championship title.

It turned out to be a stiff battle between the two, with both matching each other to play equally well with their shots off the tee and fairways and on the fast greens.

On completion of the full 18 holes, Maleena and mita had to play two extra holes on a sudden death play off. At the end of the 17th hole Maleena was 1 up, the 18th hole was won by Mita, the 19th was halved and on the 20th hole Maleena putted twice although she was two on the green but Mita who to was two on this very fast green sank a 25 foot putt on her first putt to emerge the winner.

However the other semi-finalist, Ksavi Malik, of Calcutta beat Mita Govunda in the final to be the silver division winner with Mita coming in second and Maleena Awn of Sri Lanka being placed third.

Considering her age, Maleena’s effort is commendable, and if she stays committed to golf she will surely make the right kind of progress.