Tvesa retains lead after second round of Hero WPG Tour

Overnight leader Tvesa Malik weathered a rocky start to maintain her lead after two rounds of the seventh leg of the Hero Womens Pro golf Tour.

Tvesa, who shot an even par 72 on the first day, went 4-over 76 on the second day at the Prestige Golfshire course but her lead increased from one to two shots.

Her total of 148 was two shots clear of second placed amateur Seher Atwal (71), whose card was the first sub-par score of the event, and Amandeep Drall (77). Both Seher and Amandeep are 6-over 150.

Smriti Mehra (75) and Asian Games-bound amateur Ridhima Dilawari (76) were tied-4th at 151, while Gursimar Badwal (81) was sixth at 154.

Neha Tripathi (76), amateur Pranavi Urs (80), Afshan Fatima (78) and Anisha Padukone (84) occupied the seventh to 10th places.

Tvesa, who has come into her own this season with a string of top-3 finishes including one win, opened with a double bogey and followed that with a bogey on second.

She had a birdie on par-5 third but bogeys on Par-5 fifth and Par-4 seventh meant she was 4-over through seven holes. She managed to calm herself and played the remaining 11 holes in even par with one birdie on 12th and a bogey on 14th.

Amateur Seher played an excellent round with nine straight pars on front nine, followed by birdies on 10th and 12th. A bogey on the tough Par-4 14th saw her drop the only shot of the day and she finished with four more pars.

If Tvesa had a rough start, Amandeep was in greater trouble with a bogey on first and double bogeys on next two holes to be 5-over for three holes.

One birdie and two more bogeys in the remaining 15 holes saw her finish at 77, but she hung on to the tied-second spot.

In the final round on Friday, Tvesa, looking for her second win of the season, will be in the lead group with Seher and Amandeep, while Smriti, Ridhima and Gursimar will be in the group ahead of them.

In the morning, Hita Prakash, Ayesha Kapur and Asmitha Sathish will go out first, followed by Siddhi Kapoor, Millie Saroha and Khushi Khanijau.

The third group will comprise Anisha, Suchitra Ramesh and Sonam Chugh, while Neha, Pranavi and Afshan are in the fourth group. They will be followed by the final two groups.

--IANS

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