Golf
Priya opens up three-shot lead, Yogya vaults to second spot at Junior girls’ golf in Pune
Karnataka youngster Priya Kumari shot a bogey-free, two-under 70 on Thursday to vault to the top of the leaderboard on the second day of the IGU Pune Ladies & Junior Girls Golf Championship at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune.
The 16-year-old from Bengaluru took her two-day total to two-under 142 for a three-shot lead over Yogya Bhalla (73). Overnight leader Apeksha David had a poor day in the office, shooting a four-over 76 to stay four shots off the pace.
Apeksha David hits the front, opens up two-shot lead on opening day of Pune golf meet
In the middle of a good run, Priya, who finished second overall in the previous event last month, hit the ball well throughout the day to give herself plenty of birdie opportunities. She picked up a shot on the second hole, holing a seven-foot putt, and nearly had a chip-in eagle on the ninth from 32 yards, but settled for a birdie to maintain her momentum.
Priya had chances to extend her lead on the back nine but missed 7-foot birdie putts on the 14th and 15th holes.
Another Karnataka golfer, Ridhima Kapoor, hit the front in Category ‘C’ (11-12 years) with a four-over 76 round. She took her two-day aggregate to 11-over 155 for a runaway eight-shot lead over Nandini Rathee (77).
Leading scores (after 36 holes): Combined Ladies, Category ‘A’ & ‘B’: 142: Priya Kumari (Kar, 72, 70); 145: Yogya Bhalla (Del, 72, 73); 146: Apeksha David (Mani, 70, 76); 147: Ojaswini Saraswat (Raj, 73, 74); 148: Smira Bhambri (Har, 77, 71), Preitisha Gill (Har, 75, 73), Alysha Dutt (74, 74).
Category ‘C’ (11-12 years): 155: Ridhima Kapoor (Kar, 79, 76); 163: Nandini Rathee (Har, 86, 77); 164: Amaira Gulati (Del, 84, 80), Aashna Amogha (Kar, 85, 79); 165: Aaliyah Kalra (Har, 79, 86), Aaradhaya Rawat (Ukd, 85, 80).