Released on: January 25, 2008, 3:10 am

Press Release Author: Deepak Gupta

Industry: Advertising

Press Release Summary: The DLF Women's Indian Open, now in its second year, is the
ultimate proof of the success of women's Professional golf in India. From a sport
that for many years, had just one full-time professional - Simi Mehra, who played in
the world-class Ladies PGA Tour in the United States - it has grown into a
full-fledged circuit boasting of eight events of 3-4 days each and is still growing.
With nearly Rs. 2 crores in prize money from various international and domestic
events, golf has suddenly become the richest women's sport in India.

Press Release Body: The DLF Women's Indian Open, now in its second year, is the
ultimate proof of the success of women's Professional golf in India. From a sport
that for many years, had just one full-time professional - Simi Mehra, who played in
the world-class Ladies PGA Tour in the United States - it has grown into a
full-fledged circuit boasting of eight events of 3-4 days each and is still growing.
With nearly Rs. 2 crores in prize money from various international and domestic
events, golf has suddenly become the richest women's sport in India.

The flagship event of the Women's Golf Association of India (WGAI), the body
instrumental for the growth of women's pro golf, the DLF Women's Indian Open has
grown in stature as one of the premier events on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT).
Carrying a purse of US $ 120,000, it attracts the best lady professional players
from Asia.

To put the purse in perspective, the men's Indian Open did not exceed a purse of US
$ 120,000 for over two decades, but the women's Indian Open has touched the figure
in its second year.

"Indian women's golf has shown phenomenal growth in so short a time. From scratch we
have a full-fledged women's domestic tour and now with international events like DLF
Women's Indian Open and Ladies Masters, there are ample opportunities for our
golfers," said Mrs. Kavita Singh, Chairperson of the Organising Committee of the DLF
Women's Indian Open.

"I see a lot of youngsters coming up and taking to the sport. With big events like
the DLF Women's Indian Open taking place regularly, they will be encouraged to take
to the sport more seriously and make a career from playing the game," she added.

Mr. Satish Tandon, President of the WGAI, "We are grateful to DLF for their
recommitment as the title sponsors. It is with the support of sponsors like DLF that
women's golf has reached this position so quickly and is set to continue to grow in
India. We thank DLF for their three year commitment to the DLF Womens Indian Open
and to the DLF Women's Professional Tour"

"I am also happy to note the growing strength of the field with professionals from
Europe and Japan showing interest and we also have promising Indian youngsters
playing in the tournament", he added.


The success of India's men in International professional golf may have acted as the
catalyst in the growth of professional women\'s golf in India, but there is no
denying that the tour's growth has been phenomenal in approximately two years since
the start of the tour by WGAI.

From, scratch, the Women's Golf Association of India has grown to twelve events with
a minimum purse of Rs. 1.5 lakhs for each of them.

Even as the domestic Tour is taking baby steps, International Women's Golf too has
arrived into India.

From the time Champika Sayal and her WGAI team worked to get a Skins Event with an
International Star cast, India now has not only a strong domestic circuit but also
two world class international events.

The growing interest was seen amply when the Ladies European Tour chose India as its
venue for the Indian Masters in Bangalore in December 2007. The 200,000 Euro event
saw the best of European women golfers come to India.

And now the same can be seen in US $ 120,000 DLF Women's Indian Open. The WGAI's
plans received early backing from Mrs Kavita Singh of DLF - so that the dream of
creating world class lady players from India quickly took shape with a three year
corporate commitment of DLF for the domestic tour and the flagship DLF Womens Indian
Open.

While US based Simi Mehra has been the star player helping the Tour grow, others
like Irina Brar, who represented India at the World Cup last week alongside Simi,
have also been a huge success. The fact that India was among the 18 countries
invited for the World Cup in South Africa was proof that Indian women have been
noticed internationally in a sport that was hardly popular in India two seasons ago.

Anjali Chopra, Parnita Grewal, Nitika Jadeja, Sanam Merchant, Pragya Mishra, Shalini
Malik, Nonita Lall Qureshi, Seema Sobti, Sanniya Sharma, Urvashi Sodhi and Nalini
Singh have been the other ladies who have joined the professional ranks.

In the years to come, there's much more to come as youngsters like 15 yr old Tanya
Wadhwa, who has learnt and honed her golf skills in the US, 19 yr old reigning All
India Amateur Champion Meghna Bal, also studying in the US, are showing great
promise.

Youngsters Sharmila Nicollet, Shweta Galonde and Vaishavi Sinha who with Meghna
wore Indian colours at Doha Asian Games and a host of other youngsters including
Shweta Galande, Shruti Naik and Mehar Atwal have all shown great promise. They are
the future that Women's Professional golf in India can look forward to.

The Sponsors

DLF Universal Ltd return as the title sponsors, while Platinum Sponsors for the 2nd
yr running are AIS and Avantha Corporation. \"The DLF Women's Indian Open is one of
India's major Championship golf tournaments for women. Tournaments like this will
help raise the bar and enable women golfers to compete and play professionally in
India and overseas. Avantha supports such landmark initiatives and I wish the
players the very best," said Mr. Gautam Thapar, Chairman Avantha Group.
DLF Golf and Country Club will for the 2nd yr be the host venue and the course will
be in top condition following the European Men's Tour event to test the top Asian
players.

The Gold Sponsors are Mercedes Benz for the 2nd year, while Crystallized Swarovski
Elements are Silver Sponsors again and have designed all the trophies which
symbolize the quality, stature and glamour of the tournament. Several other sponsors
have shown interest in the tournament and are expected to announce their association
in the coming weeks.


Web Site: http://

Contact Details: Deepak Gupta
flaMbe entertainment
Flat No. 24, First Floor,
Shankar Market, Block No. 4,
Connaught Place, New Delhi - 110001
Phone - 91-11-30420652,
Mobile - 09818180422