Shweta Galande takes lead

Pune's Shweta Galande took the lead at the end of the second round with a two-under 70 for a total of 143 after 36 holes in the seventh leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour at the Royal Springs Golf Course here Wednesday.

Trailing Shweta by just one stroke was Delhi golfer Ankita Tiwana with a total of 144 after the second round. Overnight leader and Delhi amateur Mehar Atwal slipped to the third place with a total score of 146.

Shweta had a troubled start when she double bogeyed the fourth hole, but quickly stabilized with a birdie on the very next only to falter again with a bogey on the sixth.

Thereafter, she never looked back, as she went on to card a string of four birdies and finished the round at the top of the leader board.

Ankita Tiwana, who played a very similar round, was also the only other golfer to card an under par score of 71 today aided by four birdies that were overshadowed by a bogey and a double bogey.

Mehar had an indifferent round to finish the second day at four-over 76. Her front nine were marred with mistakes as she dropped six strokes as against a lone birdie. She came back strongly to fire a bogey free back nine, with a single birdie to finish at the third place.

Hero Order of Merit leader Vani Kapoor played a promising and bogey free front nine with a lone birdie on the third hole. Her back nine however was not so fruitful as she carded only one birdie but had four bogeys to finish with two-over 74 that placed here fourth with a total of 147.

Kolkata's Neha Tripathi who started the day at the second position, slipped to tied fifth with Kapurthala's Gursimar Badwal. Both have four-over 148.

Chandigarh amateur Tavleen Batra was placed seventh with a total of 151 while veteran Smriti Mehra had a dismal performance to finish on eighth place trailing Tavleen by two strokes.