Nishtha surges into lead

Nishtha Madan carded a two-under 70 to hit the front after the opening stroke play round of the Usha IGU All-India Ladies and Junior Girls Golf Championship here at the Eagleton Golf Resort on Tuesday.

Tavleen Batra and Seher Atwal were tied for second place at 72 while the quintet of Aditi Ashok, Diksha Dagar, Ridhima Dilawari, Vrishali Sinha and Arshia Mahant were bunched together in fourth place at 73.

Nishtha began her day with bogey on the second whole itself but she hit back with birdies on the third, sixth and ninth holes to take the turn at two-under.

She started off her inward journey well with four straight pars but dropped her second shot of the day on the 14th hole. Just like how she did on the opening nine, she bounced back with a birdie on the 16th hole to grab the pole position.

Local favourite Aditi didn’t have the best of days in office, turning in at two-over following bogeys on the seventh and ninth holes. She picked up a shot on the 10th but negated that with a bogey on the next hole itself. She, however, signed off on a positive note with a birdie on the closing 18th.

Leading scores (after 18 holes): Ladies: 70: Nishtha Madan; 72: Tavleen Batra, Seher Atwal; 73: Aditi Ashok, Diksha Dagar, Ridhima Dilawari, Vrishali Sinha, Arshia Mahant.
Category A: 70: Nishtha Madan, 72: Seher Atwal, 73: Aditi Ashok, Ridhima Dilawari, Vrishali Sinha.

Category B: 73: Diksha Dagar, Arshia Mahant; 77: Riya Ahuja.
Category C: 75: Anika Varma, 76: Esha Sharma; 81: Vasundhara Thiara.