Rookie Ridhima, in-form Tvesa line up showdown on NGC greens

By Rahul Banerji

Ridhima Dilawari lined up for a shot at her first professional title while Order of Merit leader Tvesa Malik made up ground to set up a title showdown in the 17th Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Noida Golf Course on Thursday.

Jakarta Asian Games participant Ridhima is playing only her third event on the Hero WPG Tour.

On a day the NGC course continued to play fast and true, she shot a three-over 75 while only Tvesa brought in a level par card.

Ridhima is five-over 149 and leads Tvesa by one shot on a course looking at its best, and yet most challenging.

Overnight leader Smriti Mehra had a tough second round when she dropped four shots on the quick greens in a span of five holes.

The tour veteran ended up with a seven-over 79 and slipped to tied third alongside Siddhi Kapoor (74) and Millie Saroha (77).

Ridhima opened the day with a birdie on the first and added two more but dropped as many as six shots in her round.

Strong comeback

Tvesa, who had a disappointing 78 on the first day, showed why she has won four times this year as she played steady golf with two birdies and two dropped shots.

She bogeyed the third and sixth holes, made up with birdies on the ninth and 13th and parred the rest.

Siddhi Kapoor had one birdie against three bogeys in her 74, while Millie had three birdies but also had six bogeys and a double on the par-5 first hole.

Amandeep Drall (77) and Gursimar Badwal (78) were sixth and seventh while Saaniya Sharma, returning from injury, had a solid round of  74 after a first round 81.

Saaniya is T8 alongside Afshan Fatima (78) and Neha Tripathi (79).

Final day groupings

Friday sees Komal Chaudhary, Mehar Atwal and Khushi Khanijauout  in the first group, followed by amateur Diksha Dagar, Vaishavi SInha and Neha Tripathi.

The next group has Afshan Fatima, Saaniya and Gursimar, while the penultimate group will see Amandeep Drall, Smriti and Millie Saroha play together.

The final trio is set for an interesting battle with Ridhima going out with Tvesa and Siddhi Kapoor.

Also read: Of sleepy snakes, sliding scores and a merited European title