Nishna falls to 44th; four share Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific lead

From a Correspondent

Pattaya, Thailand: Nishna Patel hit a rough patch to drop well down the order on day three of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship on Saturday.

After a steady start that ran for the first seven holes, Nishna hit a disastrous stretch of bogeys and ended the third day on five-over par on the Waterside Course at the Siam Country Club.

The 16-year-old from Mumbai, the only Indian to make the cut from the six who flew to Thailand, shot 72-71 on the first two days. With the 77 on the third, she is now four-over par 220 and tied for 44^th.

Earlier, Avani Prashanth, Kriti Chowhan, Sifat Sagoo, Mannat Brar and Ceerat Kang all missed the cut.

Moving Day saw a four-way tie for the lead as defending champion and halfway leader, Mizuki Hashimoto (77), dropped six shots in her last six holes with four bogeys and a double.

Slipping away

Hashimoto crashed from her overnight total of nine-under par to four-under 212 and is now tied ninth.

The new leaders on eight-under 208 included two locals, 38^th world-ranked Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, who won the Thailand Amateurs two weeks ago, and her close friend, Suvichaya Vinijchaitham.

What a battle we have on our hands tomorrow! 💪 pic.twitter.com/i1RbpFFdV9

— Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Golf Championship (@WAAPGolf) November 5, 2022

The other two were Ting-Hsuan Huang, another 16-year-old from Chinese Taipei and a WAAP debutant and Korea’s Lim Jiyoo, once ranked as high as fifth in the world, but now 13^th.

Filipino Rianne Mikhaela Malixi (70), coached by Rick Gibson a former Philippine Open winner and Indian Open runner-up, was sole fifth on seven-under.

Nishna, with brother Ronav as the caddie, began well with five pars before her first birdie.

After a par on seven, her problems began. Nishna bogeyed eight, nine, and 10 and parred 11. Again, in the last seven holes she had four more bogeys and just one birdie.

Natthakritta was the joint runner-up last year, and she closed strongly with birdies for a 68 that put her at 8-under for 54 holes.

Sixteen-year-old home schooler Suvichaya, ranked 487^th in the world, was two-under for the front nine. She also birdied 10 and parred the last eight for a 69.

Huang, two-under for the front nine, was level par for the back nine, while Lim two-over after bogeys on eight and nine, birdied 13 and 17 for a 72 and a share of the lead.

Also read: Nishna sole Indian survivor at Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific