By Rahul Banerji
Queen Sirikit Cup winner Avani Prashanth led the way after two rounds of the Asian Games women’s team trials with a six under par 66 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on Wednesday.
In the men’s section, Khalin Joshi continued at the head of the pack with a four under 68 to follow an opening 67 as 18 men and 18 women vie for two places open in each team.
Anirban Lahiri, Shubhankar Sharma and Aditi Ashok are exempted from the trials that are being run by the Indian Golf Union (IGU).
The golf event at the Hangzhou Asian Games will run from September 28 to October 1.
Joshi’s nine-under total of 135 on Wednesday was two up on two-time Indian Open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia (69-68) and Aman Raj (69-68).
Avani, India’s leading woman amateur and a two-time national champion improved on her opening 70 to total eight under 136 (70-66), one shot ahead of fellow Karnataka golfer Pranavi Urs (70-67).
One shot behind her Karnataka state mate was Pranavi Urs on seven-under 137 with rounds of 70 and 67 so far. Overnight leader Amandeep Drall was third with successive cards of three-under 69.
Matching scores
Chawrasia and the in-form Aman Raj fired matching first day 69s and second round 68s to lead 2010 Asian Games team silver medallist Rashid Khan (69-69) by one shot.
On Wednesday, Avani had four birdies and one bogey on each nine in Kolkata, birdieing four times between holes four and nine before picking up a further four shots against two bogeys.
Behind Avani, Pranavi had a level par 36 on the front nine but picked up the pace on the way back with three birdies and an eagle for a five-under 31. Pranavi has postponed the start of her season on the Epson Tour in the US to play the trials.
Clean card
Joshi played a bogey-free 68 and stayed in front of local star Chawrasia who had three birdies in a row in the middle of the round and birdies in all against one dropped shot in his 68.
With one win and two top-10 finishes on the Challenge Tour events recently in Bangalore, Aman Raj also hit three birdies in a row from holes eight to ten, picking up six shots in all against two bogeys.
Rashid Khan (69-69) was sole fourth, while Chandigarh golfers Yuvraj Sandhu (69-70) and Ajeetesh Sandhu (68-71) were tied fifth.
Despite a solid 70 on the day, overnight leader Amandeep Drall fell behind on Wednesday and on six-under 138 is third, while Tvesa Malik, looking to regain form, added a 69 to her first-round 70 for fourth place on five-under 139.
Diksha Dagar (69-74) slipped from her overnight second place to fifth on one-under 143 and Vani Kapoor (76-69) was sixth on level par 144.
Day 2 top five scores
Women: 136 – Avani Prashanth (70-66); 137 – Pranavi Urs (70-67); 138 – Amandeep Drall (69-69); 139 – Tvesa Malik (70-69); 143 – Diksha Dagar (70-73).
Men: 135 – Khalin Joshi (67-68); 137 – S.S.P. Chawrasia (69-68), Aman Raj (69-68); 138 – Rashid Khan (69-69); 139 – Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (69-70), Ajeetesh Sandhu (68-71); 141 – Viraj Madappa (75-66), Veer Ahlawat (72-69), Shaurya Bhattacharya (72-69).
Also read: Joshi, Amandeep hold day one lead at Asiad golf trials
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