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Journalism of Courage
Delhis 22-year-old golfer Nalini Singh Siwach shot a second successive sub-par score of 70 to move into sole lead after two rounds in the 12th leg of the Womens Pro Golf Tour being played at the Jaypee Greens Golf Club in Greater Noida. Though Siwach was tied for lead after the first round as well,at four-under 140 she has a one shot lead ahead of Sharmila Nicollet after the Bangalore golfer had another lukewarm start to her day. Sharmila shot 71 and is second at three-under 141. Her front-nine went without any birdies and she bogeyed the par-5 third as well. Her struggle continued for as late as 12 holes,with another dropped shot at the 10th hole but then she came back into contention with two back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th. Despite another birdie on the 16th,she couldnt give a challenge to Siwachs five birdies for the day.
Siwach,who is currently second on the order of merit of the Womens Pro Golf Tour suffered another late flutter as she dropped a shot on the second last hole of the day after two birdies on the front-nine on par-4s 4th and 9th. However,her advantage was nullified as she took the turn because of two bogeys on the 7th and 8th. But steadier play on the back-nine gave her three more birdies on the 11th,14th and 15th. Siwach has three titles so far this season and will be hoping that she does enough to secure a fourth one when play resumes on the last day on Thursday.
With three bogeys and a double on the front-nine,the day could have been much worse for Japans Mika Ikemura,who is playing for the first time on the Indian domestic circuit,but a birdie-birdie finish was enough to lift her to the fourth place. Her days score of 74 has taken her to three-over 147 after two rounds. Starting with a double bogey,Shraddhanjali Singh finished at 76 and is at nine-over 153 in fifth place just ahead of Neha Tripathi (78).
