Pranavi grabs lead as Hitaashee slips to second at Aamby Valley

By Rahul Banerji

Overnight leader Hitaashee Bakshi and closest pursuer Pranavi Urs faltered on the back nine of the Aamby Valley Green Golf Course as the two swapped places on day two of the ongoing fourth Hero WPGT leg on Thursday.

Both Pranavi and Hitaashee dropped three shots each over the stretch leaving the former in the lead by one stroke and a day to go at the event near Pune.

While Pranavi is on a 140 aggregate (68-72), Hitaashee (67-74) is a stroke adrift.

Pranavi won the first leg of the current season and Hitaashee the third.

The leading duo along with Ridhima Dilawari, who had the day’s best card of 2-under 70, were the only ones with under par totals in the field.

Pranavi was 4-under par 140, Hitaashee 3-under par 141 and Ridhima 1-under 143.

Vani Kapoor, who had one of the rare birdies on the final hole, shot a 71 for fourth place on 1-over 145 after her 74 in the first round.

Pranavi, who had a superb 4-under 68 in the first round, looked set for another solid round with two birdies on the front nine.

Heavy toll

However, she dropped three shots against one birdie.

Hitaashee, who played bogey-free on the first day, was one-under for the front nine and dropped three shots on the back nine as well.

Her only birdie of the day was on the Par-3 sixth.

Amandeep Drall (75-73) and Gaurika Bishnoi (74-74) were tied fifth on 148 and Jahanvi Bakshi (77-73) was lying seventh.

Amateur Jasmine Shekhar had a roller coaster of a round with an eagle-2 besides three birdies, four bogeys and two doubles. She finished with four pars for a card of 75 and was eighth.

Durga Nittur (76-78) was ninth, while Jyotsana Singh, amateur Vidhatri Urs, Asmitha Sathish and Rhea Purvi Sarvanan were tied for tenth place on 155.

The cut fell at 161 and the top-20 players made the final round. The casualties included Lakhmehar Pardesi, Gauri Karhade and Astha Madan.

The final round will see Pranavi, Hitaashee and Ridhima in the lead group with Vani, Amandeep and Gaurika one flight ahead of them.

Round 3 tee times and scores

8 am: Khushi Khanijau 161; Oviya Reddi 160;

8:10 am: Ishvari Prasanna 160; Shweta Mansingh 158; Seher Atwal 157

8:20 am: Rhea Jha 157; Neha Tripathi 156; Rhea Purvi Saravanan 155

8:30 am: Asmitha Sathish 155; Vidhatri Urs (A) 155; Jyotsana Singh 155

8:45 am: Durga Nittur 154; Jasmine Shekar (A) 151; Jahanvi Bakshi 150

8:55 am: Gaurika Bishnoi 148; Amandeep Drall 148; Vani Kapoor 145

9:05 am: Ridhima Dilawari 143; Hitaashee Bakshi 141; Pranavi Urs 140

Also read: Hitaashee goes bogey-free to lead Aamby Valley leg of Hero WPGT