Aida clinches treble at IGU Maharashtra Ladies and Junior Girls Golf Championship

Karnataka’s 12-year-old Aida Thimmaiah claimed her maiden overall title with a treble win at the IGU Maharashtra Ladies & Junior Girls Golf Championship in Mumbai. She shot a final-round 68 to beat Delhi’s Yogya Bhalla, while Haryana’s Nandini Rathee won Category ‘C’

Hyderabad: On a day of fluctuating fortunes, Karnataka’s talented Aida Thimmaiah capitalized on Yogya Bhalla’s lapse to secure a fine treble (overall, Category ‘A’ & ‘B’) in the IGU Maharashtra Ladies & Junior Girls Golf Championship at the Willingdon Club in Mumbai on Thursday.

Aida shot a three-over 68 on the final day for a two-shot victory over Yogya Bhalla (69), who looked in control until her collapse on the 17th hole. The 12-year-old from Coorg finished with a three-day total of three-over 198 to claim her maiden overall title, becoming one of the youngest to achieve the feat.

---

Starting the day with a one-stroke cushion, Aida doubled the lead with a birdie on the fifth. A three-putt double bogey on the seventh allowed Yogya, who played solidly for most of the round, to draw level for the first time.

From then on, Aida was forced to play catch-up, dropping shots each time she tried to recover. Yogya went ahead by a stroke after Aida’s bogey on the 14th and extended her lead with a birdie on the 16th to go two shots clear.

Two up with two holes to play, Yogya only needed to stay conservative. But the 16-year-old from Delhi, who was in the middle of the fairway with a powerful drive, went for broke and paid the price. She went out of bounds twice, walked away with a quadruple bogey, and faced a two-stroke deficit heading into the final hole.

The dramatic four-shot swing on the penultimate hole handed Aida a two-shot victory. “It feels nice to win my first overall title,” said Aida. “It was a tough battle right till the end.”

In Category ‘C’ (11–12 years), Haryana’s Nandini Rathee (70) clinched the title with a three-shot victory over Gairat Kaur Kahlon (72), finishing on 25-over 220.

Final scores (after 54 holes):

Ladies & Overall:
198: Aida Thimmaiah (Kar, 64, 66, 68);
200: Yogya Bhalla (Del, 65, 66, 69);
201: Guntas Kaur Sandhu (Chd, 71, 66, 64), Ayesha Gupta (Del, 66, 69, 66);
203: Janneya A Dasanniee (Guj, 69, 65, 69).

Category ‘A’ (15–17 years):
198: Aida Thimmaiah;
200: Yogya Bhalla;
201: Guntas Kaur Sandhu, Ayesha Gupta;
204: Rashi Mishra (Bih, 71, 68, 65);
206: Dia Cris Kumar (Kar, 70, 69, 67), Rabab Kahlon (Pun, 68, 69, 69).

Category ‘B’ (13–14 years):
198: Aida Thimmaiah;
206: Rabab Kahlon;
209: Rehnoor Malik (Del, 71, 68, 70);
210: Ojaswini Saraswat (Raj, 72, 72, 66);
212: Anushka Gupta (Kar, 73, 69, 70).

Category ‘C’ (11–12 years):
220: Nandini Rathee (Har, 72, 78, 70);
223: Gairat Kaur Kahlon (Pun, 77, 74, 72), Vidushi Singh (UP, 76, 70, 77);
224: Aashna Amogha (Kar, 71, 78, 75).