Only a few weeks after Pranavi Urs defeated Shannon Tan for the Asian Games gold medal in Japan, the two will renew their rivalry at the Hero Women’s Indian Open with another significant title at stake.
This time, Tan has the trophy Pranavi wants.
The Singaporean returns to DLF Golf and Country Club as the defending champion, while Pranavi carries India’s best hope of ending a decade-long wait for a home winner. No Indian has lifted the national open trophy since Aditi Ashok’s landmark triumph in 2016.
The US$500,000 championship, featuring 114 players from 32 countries, will be played from October 22 to 25. Appropriately, Pranavi and Tan have been drawn together for Thursday’s opening round alongside 2017 champion Camille Chevalier.
Their reunion follows a dramatic Asian Games contest in Aichi-Nagoya, where Pranavi claimed the individual gold and Tan took bronze. The result added a fresh dimension to a rivalry already shaped by their regular appearances on the Ladies European Tour.
Pranavi now returns to familiar surroundings with greater belief and a clear objective. She finished fourth at DLF last year and will attempt to convert her strong form into a maiden LET victory.
Her challenge carries wider significance for Indian golf. The country produced its best collective performance in tournament history last season, placing four players inside the top 10, but the title remained out of reach.
Pranavi’s gold medal has since demonstrated that she can close against elite opposition under pressure. Winning at home, however, would require her to master one of the most unforgiving courses on the LET schedule while managing the expectations surrounding the newly crowned Asian Games champion.
Tan faces a different challenge: defending a title at a venue where she has built an exceptional record.
She finished runner-up to Liz Young on her tournament debut in 2024 before returning a year later to win from five strokes behind. A final-round 67 carried her to a one-shot victory and strengthened a growing connection between the Singaporean and India’s national open.
Tan also arrives as the 2025 LET Order of Merit champion after another season featuring several top-five and top-10 finishes.
“I have been looking forward to this event pretty much all year, but I will approach it as I would any other event,” Tan said. “I will focus on my processes and routines and go about things as I would on a normal day.”
Her calm approach will be tested by a DLF layout that demands disciplined positioning, precise approaches and an acceptance that mistakes can quickly become expensive.
Tan and Pranavi will not have the contest to themselves. The field contains 21 LET winners, three former Order of Merit champions and four players who have won during the current season.
Four former champions, accounting for six titles, are also competing. Tan is joined by Young, Chevalier and three-time winner Pornanong Phatlum, who returns for the first time in 14 years.
Phatlum’s victories in 2008, 2009 and 2012 helped establish her international career before an extended spell on the LPGA Tour. Young, meanwhile, will draw confidence from her 2024 victory, when she defeated Tan by one stroke.
India’s challenge extends well beyond Pranavi. Two-time LET champion Diksha Dagar arrives after joining Pranavi and Aditi Ashok in winning the Asian Games team silver. Hitaashee Bakshi returns after finishing third last year, while Avani Prashanth, who shared fifth place in 2025, will look to build on that breakthrough.
Tvesa Malik, Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall add experience to a 31-player Indian contingent that includes four amateurs.
Yet the greatest attention on Thursday morning will surround the 7am group featuring the Asian Games gold medallist, the bronze medallist and a former Indian Open champion.
Tan has finished second and first in her two appearances at DLF. Pranavi arrives with a gold medal and the opportunity to become the first home champion in 10 years.
Japan supplied the opening chapter of their rivalry this month. Gurugram will determine who writes the next one.
Photo – LET
