Aditi Ashok takes top honours

BANGALORE: Local girl Aditi Ashok couldn't quite reproduce her first-round success, but the 12-year-old did just about enough in the second round to keep the rest at bay and annex the Billoo Sethi Golf Challenge Trophy at the BGC here on Wednesday.
More than becoming the youngest winner of the two-round qualifying event in the 94th all-India Ladies Amateur Golf Championship, her second-round score of four-over 74 saw Aditi (146) get the top ranking for the match play event that begins on Thursday.
In all, the top 16 golfers qualified for the knockout rounds. Junior all-India champion Gurbani Singh finished two strokes behind Aditi to be ranked No. 2. Aditi takes on Mehar Atwal in the round of 16.
Mehar edged out Nanaki Chadha for the last available berth with a better second-round score of 12-over 82. Mehar and Nanaki had finished tied 16th with a two-day total of 167. Gauri Monga, winner of four titles this season, and local girl Tvesa Malik shot identical 72s, the best score of the day.
Having showcased her golfing skills over the last two days in the strokeplay event, Aditi would be hoping to prove that she is mentally strong as well in the match play event, which is all about handling pressure.
Final scores (after 36 holes): 146: Aditi Ashok (72, 74); 148: Gurbani Singh (75, 73); 151: Shraddhanjali Singh (77, 74); 153: Gauri Monga (81, 72), Vani Kapoor (77, 76), Shreya Ghei (74, 79); 154: Millie Saroha (78, 76).
The pairings (Round of 16): Aditi Ashok vs Mehar Atwal; Amandeep Drall vs Tvesa Malik; Gauri Monga vs Nikita Arjun; Vani Kapoor vs Talveen Batra; Gurbani Singh vs Anisha Padukone; Millie Saroha vs Rabiya Gill; Shraddhanjali Singh vs Amrita saran; Shrya Ghei vs Sharmeen Chinoy.