Afshan maintains lead at Panchkula as event promises close finish

By Rahul Banerji

Afshan Fatima overcame a mid-round stumble to stay in the lead in the 14^th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at Panchkula on Thursday.

Afshan, leader by two shots after the first round, had a two-over-par 74 for an even par 144 aggregate, one shot ahead of Ridhima Dilawari (73-72) at Panchkula Golf Club.

Chasing Afshan and Ridhima was teenager Hitaashee Bakshi, who made up for her first round 76 with a two-under 70 in the second.

That included a solid back nine in which Hotaashee sank three birdies in the last eight holes.

She moved up to tied third along with amateur Vidhatri Urs (73-73), who had a rough front nine but a steady journey home.

Afshan has not won since the 13^th leg of the 2018 season, though she has been runner-up three times, including twice in 2019.

After leading for two days, she will be looking forward to ending the long title drought with Ridhima, Hitaashee, and Vidhatri on her heels.

Jyotsana Singh (80-67) and Seher Atwal (73-74) are also in the running, just three shots behind the leader.

Big swing

Jyotsana ensured a dramatic 13-shot improvement on her first-round eight-over 80, as she carded Thursday’s best score of five-under 67 that included four birdies in the last eight holes.

Jyotsana shared fifth place with Seher Atwal on three-over 147.

Amateur Lavanya Jadon (76-72) and Khushi Khanijau (73-75) were tied for seventh on four-over 148 while Gaurika Bishnoi (72-78), Saaniya Sharma (73-77) and Siddhi Kapoor (78-72) were tied ninth.

Siddhi had the day’s only eagle on the par-5 12^th hole.

Gaurika, who was second overnight slipped badly with six bogeys and a double against two birdies.

Hyderabad rookie and past winner as an amateur Sneha Singh (78-75) continued to struggle and was tied 15^th at 9-over 153.

The cut came at 12-over 156 as 23 players made it to the final round.

Scores and round 3 tee times

8:30 am: Ananya Datar 156 Anisha Agarwalla 156

8:40 am: Rhea Purvi S. 154 Riya Yadav 154 Asmitha Sathish 153

8:50 am: Neha Tripathi 153 Jia Kataria (A) 153 Ragini Navet (A) 153

9 am: Sneha Singh 153 Agrima Manral 152 Rhea Jha 152

9:15 am: Shweta Mansingh 151 Gaurika Bishnoi 150 Saaniya Sharma 150

9:25 am: Siddhi Kapoor 150 Khushi Khanijau 148 Lavanya Jadon (A) 148

9:35 am: Seher Atwal 147 Jyotsana Singh 147 Vidhatri Urs (A) 146

9:45 am: Hitaashee Bakshi 146 Ridhima Dilawari 145 Afshan Fatima 144

Also read: Afshan takes two-shot lead at Hero WPGT Panchkula event