Nishna climbs into contention with a bogey-free 64 at BPGC

By Rahul Banerji

Nishna Patel shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 to force her way into contention in the second leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club on Wednesday.

The Mumbai amateur, who had a disappointing first-round 77, is now 1-over 141 and tied fourth, as Hitaashee Bakshi (70) stayed in the lead by two strokes on 3-under 137 after 36 holes.

Hitaashee, looking for a first win since 2022, shot a level par 70 with two birdies and two bogeys after her opening 67. Amandeep Drall (68-71, 139) sits second and Ridhima Dilawari (68-72) third on level par 140.

The day though belonged to Nishna, who after one birdie in her first 10 holes, fired up the rest of her round, the WGAI said.

She birdied holes 11 and 12 and made further back-to-back gains on 15 and 16 before closing with her fifth birdie on the back nine.

Tough group

Nishna won the first leg in Pune last week and will have to battle it out with Hitaashee, Amandeep and Ridhima as she goes for a second straight title. Tied alongside Nishna were 2023 Hero Order of Merit winner, Sneha Singh (68-73) and Khushi Khanijau (71-70).

Rhea Jha (72-70), All India Amateurs winner Vidhatri Urs (69-74) and Mannat Brar (72-72) occupied the seventh to ninth places.

The experienced Vani Kapoor (76-69) and Neha Tripathi (71-74) were tied for tenth with Vani being the only player other than Nisha to go under par for the day.

The final round will see Ridhima, Amandeep and Hitaashee in the lead group, while Sneha, Khushi and Nishna will make up the flight just ahead.

Scores and round 2 tee times

8 am: Mehar Atwal 153; Jyotsana Singh 153

8:10 am: Disha Kavery 152; Anisha Agarwalla 152; Ananya Garg 152

8:20 am: Taniya Balasuriya 151; Ananya Datar 150; Anuradha Chaudhuri (A) 150

8:30 am: Snigdha Goswami 150; Karishma Govind 149; Gauri Karhade 148

8:40 am: Shweta Mansingh 148; Riya Yadav 148; Jasmine Shekar 147

8:55 am: Rhea Purvi Saravanan 146; Neha Tripathi 145; Vani Kapoor 145

9:05 am: Mannat Brar (A) 144; Vidhatri Urs (A) 143; Rhea Jha 142

9:15 am: Sneha Singh 141; Khushi Khanijau 141; Nishna Patel (A) 141

9:25 am: Ridhima Dilawari 140; Amandeep Drall 139; Hitaashee Bakshi 137

Also read: Hitaashee Bakshi leads Mumbai leg of Hero women’s pro tour