Hitaashee leads Sneha by a shot in 11th leg of Hero WPGT

By Rahul Banerji

Rivals since their junior and amateur days, Hitaashee Bakshi and Sneha Singh were once again locked in battle going into the final day of the 11^th leg of the Hero WPGT on Thursday.

A late eagle by Hitaashee, already a two-time winner this season, gave her a 4-under 68 over first round Sneha at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club in Hyderabad.

Local star Sneha, looking for her first win as a pro, was hit by a double bogey on the par-5 seventh, as she returned a 2-under 70 to drop into second place.

Hitaashee (69-68) is now seven-under 137 and Sneha (68-70) are followed by Pranavi Urs (70-71) with a 141 aggregate.

Hitaashee had three birdies on the front nine and the eagled 14^th to go five-under for the day. A dropped shot on 16 pulled her back by one but she was still one clear of the field.

Sneha swapped birdie for bogey early on but a double pushed her back from Hitaashee.

Late recovery

A birdie on nine meant she would turn in one-over 37 before picking up a further three shots to recover lost ground.

Pranavi had four birdies and three bogeys in a round of 71 and while she is four shots behind the leader, is well capable of mounting a late charge.

The Mysore teenager has already won four times this season and shares third place with Nayanika Sanga (69-72).

Nayanika, who was cruising with a fine 3-under for the front nine, stumbled with three bogeys in a matter of five holes on the back nine but recovered slightly with birdie on 17.

The next three spots are occupied by amateurs Keerthana R. Nair (70-72), Heena Kang (71-72) and Vidhatri Urs (72-72), who were fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

Khushi Khanijau (77-68) made a huge nine-shot jump from the first to the second rounds, and was tied for eighth with Seher Atwal (70-75). Shweta Mansingh (69-78) was tenth.

The cut fell at 9-over 153 and 19 players made it through to Friday’s third and final round.

Scores and round 3 tee times

8:30 am: Mehar Atwal 153; Oviya Reddi 153

8:40 am: Anisha Agarwalla 152; Geetika Ahuja 152

8:50 am: Rhea Purvi Saravanan 151; Ishvari Prasanna 150; Jahanvi Bakshi 150

9 am: Kriti Chowhan (A) 150; Disha Kavery 149; Shweta Mansingh 147

9:15 am: Seher Atwal 145; Khushi Khanijau 145; Vidhatri Urs (A) 144

9:25 am: Heena Kang (A) 143; Keerthana R. Nair (A) 142; Nayanika Sanga 141

9:35 am: Pranavi Urs 141; Sneha Singh 138; Hitaashee Bakshi 137

Also read: Sneha Singh leads by one at Boulder Hills leg of Hero WPGT