Sneha posts season’s first win

Hyderabad: A brilliant closing round helped city girl Sneha Singh to claim her first victory of the season in the second leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour in Mumbai on Thursday.The winner of the Hero Order of Merit in 2023, Sneha opened and closed the final round with eagles to a card of 7-under-63. Despite being four shots behind overnight leader Hitaashee Bakshi (68), an excellent final day helped Sneha to win the title by one shot.With 68-73-63, Sneha totalled 6-under 204 to finish ahead of Hitaashee. This the second runner-up finish for the latter in as many weeks. She completed with a 5-under-205. Ridhima Dilawari with a 2-under 68 on Thursday was third. Last week's winner Nishna Patel shot a 71 and was tied fourth with Khushi Khanijau (71) at 2-over 212. Amandeep Drall (68-71-74) finished sixth and Vani Kapoor (76-69-70) was seventh.Mannat Brar (72) and Vishatri Urs (73) underlined the amateur strength with their strong show and finished tied eighth at 216. Rhea Jha (76) was 10th, Neha Tripathi (74) was 11th and Ananya Datar (70) finished 12th.Despite playing in different groups, Sneha and Hitaashee were engaged in a close contest. Sneha got off to a dream start with an eagle and added a birdie on the third. Hitashee also birdied on the second, third and also had a third birdie on the sixth. Sneha eagled the final hole and joined Hitaashee at 6-under. Needing a birdie on the par-5 18th, she ended up dropping a shot to hand Sneha the victory. With this victory, Sneha now takes the lead on the Hero Order of Merit after the first two legs of the Pro Golf Tour.Final scores (after 54 holes): 204: Sneha Singh (68, 73, 63); 205: Hitaashee Bakshi (67, 70, 68); 208: Ridhima Dilawari (68. 72, 68); 212: Khushi Khanijau (71, 70, 71), Nishna Patel (A, 77, 64, 71).