Sharmila Nicollet storms into lead in second leg of Hero-WGAI Tour

Bangalore, August 29: Sharmila Nicollet stormed into lead with a very steady two-under 68 that put her one shot ahead of Nalini Singh Siwach (68), who, too, carded a fine 68 in the second round of the second leg of theHero-WGAI Women’s Pro Tour at Clover Greens in Bangalore.

Sharmila, who was in a tie for second overnight, was three-under through 13 holes, before her first and only mishap of the day in the form of a bogey came on 14^th. She then parred the last four holes for a 68, which was the best round thus far in the tournament.

Also giving Sharmila a run for her money was young Nalini Singh Siwach (68) who overtook overnight leader Smriti Mehra (72) to take the second spot. Nalini was at even par 140, one behind Sharmila whose aggregate is 139. Smriti is lying third at 141.

Neha Tripathi (72) was placed fourth at 143 while Ankita Kedalya (72) was fifth at 147 and Shraddhanjali Singh (74) was sixth at 148.

Sharmila opened with five pars before a birdie came her way on the par-4 sixth. Five more pars elapsed before back to back birdies on 12^th and 13^th. Then after a lone bogey on 14^th, she steadied with four pars.

Nalini was two-under through nine, but then dropped bogeys on tenth and 11^th. She birdied the 14^th and 15^thto come back into red numbers and she stayed under par with three more pars.

Smriti’s day started with a birdie o first, but she dropped a double on the second. One more birdie against two bogeys saw her finish the front nine in 38. A double bogey on 10^th meant she was four-over. But three birdies against one bogey retrieved the day and she finished at 72.

Vani Kapoor, who lost the first leg, Hero-KGA tournament, last week, shot a second successive 76 and was placed 11^th, while Meghna Bal, who had a fine 71 on first day went to a 80 on second.

The event carries a purse of Rs. 5 lakhs and is the second in the schedule of the Tour which has 12 events.

Tee times for third and final round:

9:00 AM: Nalini Singh (159)/ Mita Gowande (159)

9:10 AM: Nikki Ponappa (158)/ Trisha Sunil (A)(157)

9:20 AM: Priya Puri (156)/ Pallavi Jain (156)/ Rani Sonti (155)

9:30 AM: Preetinder Kaur (154)/ Vani Kapoor (152)/ Meghna Bal (151)

9:40 AM: Ankita Tiwana (151)/ Suchitra Ramesh (A)(150)/ Saaniya Sharma (148)

9:50 AM: Shraddhanjali Singh (148)/ Ankita Kedlaya (A)(147)/ Neha Tripathi (143)

10:00 AM: Smriti Mehra (141)/ Nalini Singh Siwach (140)/ Sharmila Nicollet (139)