Sifat fires into sole lead

Sifat Alag shot a second successive under-par round to set herself up to lay her hands on the IGU Southern India Ladies and Junior Girls Golf Championship trophy on Wednesday.

At the Clover Greens in Hosur, the Uttar Pradesh golfer fired a fine three-under 67 in the second and penultimate round to total 136 and take a five-shot lead over Diksha Dagar -- a Category A competitor.

Pace-setter Kushi Hooda, a Category B golfer, found the going tough as she carded four-over 74 to slip to third position, six shots behind Sifat.

Sifat got off the blocks in perfect fashion, picking up a birdie on the very first hole. She then dropped a bogey on the par-3 fourth before steadying herself for the remaining part of the outward journey.

She birdied the 11th hole but that was followed by a bogey on the 13th. She then stepped on the accelerator, firing birdies on the 14th, 16th and 17th holes to open up a commanding lead over her rivals.

Leading scores (after 36 holes): Cat A, B & Ladies: 136: Sifat Alag (69, 67); 141: Diksha Dagar (73, 68); 142: Kushi Hooda (68, 74).

Ladies: 136: Sifat Alag; 143: Gurjot Badwal (71, 72); 158: Anousha Tripathi (83, 75).

Cat A (15-17 years): 141: Diksha Dagar; 145: Shreya Pal (71, 74); 146: Eshika Arora (77, 69).

Cat B (13-14): 142: Kushi Hooda; 144: Zoya Vayagankar (70, 74); 148: Rakshita Singh (73, 75).

Cat C (11-12): 143: Vidhatri Urs (67, 76); 146: Rishika Muralidhar (72, 74); 147: Nishna Patel (73, 74).