Neha and Afshan locked in keen tussle in final leg of Hero WPG Tour

Afshan Fatima took advantage of a mid-round lapse of concentration from Neha Tripathi to take a share of the lead after two rounds in the 18th and final leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here Thursday.

Afshan, who was lying second with a round of 73 on the first day, added a no-frills card of 74 to get to 147, while Neha, who followed her first round 70 with a 77, clearly let the advantage slip.

Neha did not seem in too much trouble despite two bogeys in the first six holes, as scoring was once again tough. The trouble came when she had back-to-back double bogeys on either side of the turn on ninth and tenth. That saw her card 77 and she was tied with Afshan.

With Friday being the final day of competition this season on the Hero WPG Tour, the fight for the title in the 18th leg is keenly poised with both Neha and Afshan looking for their second win this year.

Amandeep Drall was third at 153 with rounds of 77 and 76, while Millie Saroha (75) was fourth. Gursimar Badwal, who had an 82 on the first day, brought home the day's best round of 73 to be Tied-fifth. She had two bogeys against one birdie and was tied with Siddhi Kapoor (78) and Smriti Mehra (80). Smriti had as many as 10 bogeys, and three times she had three in a row.

Khushi Khanijau (80), Suchitra Ramesh (75) and Preetinder Kaur (79) occupied the eighth to 10th places.

Mehar Atwal and Tavleen Batra will go out in the first two-ball pairing, while Hita Prakash and Preetinder Kaur will follow them.

The third group, a three-ball, will feature Suchitra Ramesh, Khushi Khanijau and Smriti Mehra, while the fourth group has Siddhi Kapoor, Gursimar Badwal and Millie Saroha. The lead group has Amandeep Drall, Neha Tripathi and Afshan Fatima.