JOIN USAstha Madan shot the day’s best card to remain in pole position after the penultimate round of the IGU-NR Group Ladies and Junior Girls Golf Championship here on Monday.
The 18-year-old, ranked fifth in the Order of Merit list, shot a respectable level-par 70 to open up a handy three-shot lead after totalling 143 at the JWGC.
Amandeep Drall, tied third overnight, climbed a place up to second following a 72 while overnight leader Aditi Ashok dropped to tied third, a distant six shots behind leader Astha after a disastrous six-over 76.
After parring the opening two holes, Astha birdied the third, bogeyed the fourth and sixth holes before picking up shots on the seventh and ninth holes.
A bogey followed on the 12th but the teenager then played percentage golf to stay steady and take a sizeable lead into the final round. Raksha Phadke and Arushi Pandey are in fourth and fifth places respectively.
Leading scores (after 36 holes): 143: Astha Madan (73, 70); 146: Amandeep Drall (74, 72); 149: Vrishali Sinha (76, 73), Aditi Ashok (73, 76); 152: Raksha Phadke (80, 72), Arushi Pandey (74, 78).
Category A: 149: Vrishali Sinha, Aditi Ashok; 154: Seher Atwal (78, 76); 157: Gaurika Bishnoi (80, 77).
Category B: 152: Arushi Pandey (74, 78); 165: Arshia Mahant (84, 81); 169: Diksha Dagar (85, 84).
Category C: 162: Pranavi S Urs (81, 81); 163: Vasundhara Thiara (77, 86); 168: Tanishka Kumar (87, 81).