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Asian Games golf: Aditi Ashok tied second, women's team third after second round
Aditi added a six-under par 66 to her overnight 67 and was in tied second place at 11-under par total, tied alongside China’s world No. 2 Ruoning Yin
With a stunning chipped-in eagle and her first bogey in 34 holes in the competition, India’s Aditi Ashok remained firmly in contention for an individual medal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.
The 25-year-old from Bengaluru added a six-under par 66 to her overnight 67 and was in tied second place at 11-under par total, tied alongside China’s world No. 2 Ruoning Yin and just one shot behind Thai world No. 206 Arpichaya Yubol (65).
It was a much-improved performance from the other members of the Indian women’s team, with Pranavi Urs moving to tied 10th place at 5-under par after a bogey-free 68, while 16-year-old amateur climbing to tied 15th at 3-under par with a 69.
The Indian women’s team was in third place at 16-under total, five behind China and four adrift of Thailand.
In the men’s competition, the team endured a strange stretch of eight holes after a bright start, where they had just two combined birdies to show on a Westlake International course that was yielding birdies by the dozen.
Anirban Lahiri made four birdies in his first five holes, and then had one bogey in the next 10 holes before making up with a couple of birdies in his 67. Shubhankar Sharma started birdie-birdie and followed it up with eight straight pars. After a birdie on his sixth hole, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia parred his way for the last 12 holes. Khalin Joshi also made birdies in his first two holes, but was even-par for his next 11 holes.
Lahiri’s 67 kept him inside the top-10 at 12-under. Sharma (69) was in joint 21st position at seven-under par total. Joshi was the third contributing member of the team with a 69 that took him to tied 29th place alongside Chawrasia at five-under par.
The strong Korean team continued to motor along in men’s competition at 44-under, while Hong Kong moved to within four shots thanks to a stunning 12-under par round by young Taichi Kho, who led the individual race at 22-under par.
The ever-consistent Ashok was off to a great start with birdies on the first two holes, but the highlight of the tournament came on the short par-4 fifth, where she hit her drive to the front edge of the 268-yard hole, and then holed her chip from 15 yards to move to 4-under par for the day.
Ashok, who has improved to No47 in the Rolex Rankings with a number of top-10s on the LPGA and Ladies European Tour, paid the price for her one bad swing of the day – on the par-3 16th hole. She chipped to seven feet, and then missed the par putt.
However, she bounced back in style with a birdie on the very next hole. Ashok reached the par-5 hole with two solid blows to leave herself with a 15-feet eagle putt, which she agonizingly missed.
“I had a better idea of the greens today and putted much better. I am in a great position going into the weekend just one shot behind, so hopefully, two more solid rounds and be in contention over the last few holes,” said Ashok after her round.
The third round of all four men’s and women’s events are scheduled for Saturday.
