Meghna falls to third spot

Overnight leader Meghna Bal did not have a very good day on the greens. Playing some spectacular golf, but only in patches, she kept on missing by the whisker-breadth and had to pay. Teeing off from the 10th hole, the 18-year-old could manage only one birdie all day. A luckless back nine—with bogies on the 2nd, 4th and 6th holes—meant that she finished with a two-over for the day and dropped to third place.

Meghna started her round from where she left off on Day One— sinking a 12-foot putt for a birdie on the 14th. But she missed chances on the 18th and the 1st— where she made a great putt from 30 feet, which stayed just out —and heavy winds meant that her game continued to fall.

The bogeys on the 2nd and 4th holes were punctuated by some lousy luck on the par-three third hole. Landing on the green with her first shot, Meghna hit a beautiful accurate putt from almost 20 feet, the ball brushed the cup, but stayed out. Ya Ni made three birdies and 3 bogeys for her 2-under.

The Delhi girl was frank to admit that the missed opportunities cost her further. “I had some trouble controlling my shots, and that affected my concentration. I tried to be cautious and make sure the loss was minimum. There’s another day to go, and I’ll try my best,” she said.

Chandigarh’s Irina Brar, who had finished the first round in third place had a poor round of seven-over to and fell to tied-ninth, with Chinese Taipei’s Huei-ju Shih and Japan’s Rie Shiraki. Top seed American Libby Smith is in tied 21st place with an aggregate 8-over.