Avani Prashanth fights back to survive cut at Amundi German Masters

Hamburg: India’s Avani Prashanth produced a fighting second-round display to become the lone Indian golfer to make the cut at the Amundi German Masters in Hamburg. The youngster carded a superb 4-under 69 — the joint second-best round of the day — to climb to 1-over overall, comfortably inside the cut mark of 2-over. She ended the day tied for 47th.

Playing only her second season on the Ladies European Tour (LET), Avani showed impressive resilience after a challenging opening round. Her revival began early in the second round with an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole, a dramatic turnaround from the double bogey she had recorded on the same hole a day earlier.

Starting from the front nine, Avani steadily built momentum and carried her form into the back stretch. She added birdies on the 11th and 13th holes to climb further up the leaderboard. Although she dropped her lone shot of the day on the 14th hole, the Indian golfer recovered strongly with another birdie on the 17th to close with a superb 4-under 69.

Avani’s strong showing continues a promising run of form after her tied-fifth finish at the Hero Women’s Indian Open earlier this season.

The other two Indians in the field, however, failed to progress into the weekend rounds. Pranavi Urs carded a second-round score of 1-over par to finish at 4-over overall, missing the cut and ending in tied 72nd position. Vani Kapoor had earlier withdrawn from the tournament after the first round.

At the top of the leaderboard, Germany’s Esther Henseleit delighted home fans by taking the lead at 9-under par after rounds of 64 and 71. Henseleit mixed five birdies with three bogeys during her second round to maintain a one-shot advantage heading into the weekend.

Czech golfer Sara Kouskova produced the round of the day with a stunning 7-under 64 to move into second place at 8-under overall. Her round included a spectacular eagle after holing out from a bunker on the 11th hole, along with six birdies and just one bogey.

Four players shared third place at 6-under par — Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and German trio Alexandra Försterling, Chiara Noja, and Leonie Harm. Defending champion Försterling carded consecutive rounds of 70, while Noja continued her encouraging comeback from a shoulder injury with back-to-back 3-under rounds.

A group of six players remained tied for seventh at 5-under par, while Australia’s Kelsey Bennett produced one of the highlights of the tournament with a hole-in-one on the par-3 second hole.

A total of 64 players advanced to the weekend after the cut was finalised at 2-over par.

Tags : Avani Prashanth, Golf, Vani Kapoor, Sara Kouskova, Hamburg