Pranavi storms into second place with brilliant 63, India move into team medal contention

Aichi-Nagoya: Pranavi Sharath Urs produced the round of the day in the women’s golf competition at the Asian Games, firing a spectacular seven-under-par 63 to surge into sole second place and put herself firmly in the hunt for the gold medal at Kasugai Country Club.

The Indian golfer, who opened with a four-under 66 on Wednesday, now stands at 11-under-par 129 after 36 holes, just two shots behind Singapore’s Shannon Tan, who retained the individual lead at 13-under.

After a composed opening round and a brilliant second-day charge, Pranavi has moved into the heart of the gold-medal battle and just two behind Tan.

Pranavi’s superb effort brought the women’s team into the medal positions. India moved to third place at seven-under-par 273, behind leaders China and Singapore, with two rounds still remaining.

The timing of her surge is also noteworthy. With the Hero Women’s Indian Open coming up in few weeks, Pranavi sees her Asian Games challenge as an opportunity to build momentum.

Meanwhile in the men’s section, Saptak Talwar (66-68), who was third after the first round slipped in the second round despite 2-under 68 and is now 6-under and Tied-7th. The co-leaders are Taipei’s Wang We Hsuan (65-66) at 9-under alongside China’s Ding Wenyi and he shot 67-64) to 9-under also.

Japanese duo Kazuki Higa (65-67) and former Hero Indian Open champion Keita Nakajima (66-66) are tied third.

Japan (264), China (265) and Korea (266) hold the top three spots in men’s team competition with India (273) in fifth place, one behind Chinese Taipei (269) who are fourth.

It was a round of remarkable consistency from Pranavi, who never appeared to be in trouble as she combined precise driving, confident approach play and timely putting. She picked up four birdies in her first six holes and then added three more birdies between the 13th and 16th to complete a bogey-free 63. The first birdie, a 20-footer, immediately set the tone. She had four birdies in first six holes and three more in a four-hole run on the back nine.

“The game was pretty solid from tee-to-green. Didn’t really have any bad shots. A very good, solid round, and that was that,” Pranavi said after her round.

She found fairways, played her irons well and attacked the pins.

“I put myself in good positions off the tee, which gave me good numbers to hit the approach shots. Some of the shots that I got, I was really comfortable with those numbers, and I stuck it in to five feet,” she said. “Just hitting fairways and greens, that’s always been my game plan.”

Pranavi’s 63 was all the more significant because her Indian teammates had a difficult second day. Diksha Dagar slipped to tied 21st at four-over, while Aditi Ashok was tied 25th at five-over. With the team competition calculated from the combined scores of the players, Pranavi’s low round became the driving force behind India’s climb to third.

For Pranavi, however, the individual opportunity is just as significant.

The 26-year-old will begin the third round on Friday in the final groups, knowing that she is only two strokes from the top. It will be her first appearance in the final group at an Asian Games, but the prospect of playing under pressure does not appear to faze her.

“Always good to be in contention. Unfortunately, there haven’t been a lot of times where I’ve been in contention on Tour. So to kind of get that momentum going towards the Indian Open in a couple weeks is a good sign,” she said.

Yet she was not looking beyond the next 18 holes. “I mean, I’m not thinking about anything as of now, I’m just thinking about tomorrow’s round.”

That focus will be important as Tan, who has opened up a two-shot advantage, remains the player to catch. But after a 66 followed by a flawless 63, Pranavi has given herself an excellent platform from which to launch a challenge over the final 36 holes.

There was also a lighter moment when Pranavi was asked about the Indian men’s cricket team playing their semifinal in Nagoya. Her response showed that the golfers are very much aware of the star-studded sporting presence around them at the Games.

“For a change they should come watch us. A lot of the cricketers are golfers now,” she said, mentioning former India star Yuvraj Singh, with whom she has played golf. “He’s a very good player, hits the ball miles, but it can go on either side,” she joked.

She added, “I think Virat (Kohli) should start golf, he would make golf so popular in India.”

Tags : PRanavi Urs, Golf, Asian Games, SAptak Talwar