Diksha Dagar moves up to seventh in NSW Open

Diksha Dagar continued her upward movement in the Women's New South Wales Open with a sterling third round display that put her in sight of her first Top-10 as a pro outside India.

The left-handed Dagar, who has been playing well in Australia in her rookie season, was aided by an eagle on par-5 third hole to card two-under 69 on the heels of a 67 a round earlier.

She is placed tied seventh with a five-under 208, five shots behind the leaders, defending champion Meghan MacLaren and Lynn Carlsson, who share the lead at 10-under-par.

Dagar's fellow Indians, Amandeep Drall (70) was lying T-32 and Astha Madan (71) was T-34th. It is a rare occasion that three Indian women have made the cut in Ladies European Tour event outside India.

Dagar, who has won a pro event while being an amateur on her home Tour of the Women's Golf Association of India (WGAI), eagled the third and then birdied the ninth.

She gave away shots on 11th and 13th but made some amends with a closing birdie on 18th.

The pair shot matching four-under-par 67 at Queanbeyan Golf Club and are two clear of the halfway leader Valdis Thora Jonsdottir, Karolin Lampert and Christine Wolf.

The 24-year-old from Northamptonshire, England, MacLaren won the title by two strokes at Coffs Harbour Golf Club last year.