WPGT Golf: Amateur Sneha shares lead with Hitaashee

Mumbai, Feb 24 (IANS) Amateur Sneha Singh put herself in line for back-to-back wins as she fired another round of 2-under 68 on the second day of the third leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, here on Thursday.

Sneha is now 4-under 136 and shares the lead with Hitaashee (67-69), who is seeking her first win of the season and also the first since December 2020.

Starting the day two behind the leader Amandeep Drall, and one behind the second placed duo of Hitaashee Bakshi and Seher Atwal, the Hyderabad-based Sneha had three birdies against one bogey.

In the meantime, Hitaashee's sister Jahanvi Bakshi, who won four times in 2021 and was the top pro last week when Sneha won, shot 68 in the second round.

Amandeep Drall dropped three bogeys between 9th and 13th and another one on 17th against two birdies, one of them on 18th. She shot 72 and slipped from the lead to third at 2-under 138.

Pranavi Urs, winner of the season-opener, found her form and was one of the three players to shoot 68 in the second round. Her 68, which had a birdie-birdie finish, saw her rise to fourth at 1-under 139.

Gaurika Bishnoi (69-72) started the day with an eagle on the Par-5 first but then dropped two bogeys and a double bogey on Par-5 16th for a 72 that put her in Tied-5th place alongside Rhea Purvi Sarvanan (71-70).

Jahanvi Bakshi (75-68) and Neha Tripathi (70-73) shared the seventh place, while Ridhima Dilawari (68-76) slipped to ninth with a score that was 12 shots more than the first day.

Fancied Tvesa Malik made a marginal improvement in her second round score with a 72 as against 73 on first day to be Tied-10th with Seher Atwal, who had a 11-shot swing from her first round score of 67 as she shot 78.

Sneha Singh, after taking her first steps in golf in Kolkata, is now based in Hyderabad and coached by her father, Sanjay Kumar Singh, a former pro on the Indian Tour. Sneha, who had won both the All India Juniors and All India Ladies Amateur titles, has won once in each year since 2019 but if she wins on Friday, it will be her fifth win on the pro circuit and the first time she has won twice in a single year.