GOLF
Aditi stays in contention despite late double at Founders Cup
India’s Aditi Ashok stayed in the frame despite a late double bogey in the third round of the Cognizant Founders Cup at New Jersey’s Upper Montclair Country Club.
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The young Indian star, who has been in the upper part of the leader board since Day 1, shot 1-under 71 and moved to 8-under for three rounds, but was four shots off the lead taken over by her playing partner, Australian Minjee Lee (67).
Minjee, who played in the lead group at the same event last year also, was 12-under and chased by Angel Yin (68) and Korean Hae Ran Ryu (70) who were tied second while Aditi and Major champion Ashleigh Buhai (68) and the Korean superstar Jin Young Ko (72) were tied fourth.
Aditi said, “Started off pretty good. Chipped in from the fringe on first and holed a six-footer on 4, which was a good wedge shot. Kind of bogeyed the par-3s (sixth and eighth) on the front, so didn’t hit good iron shots.
“I hit it in places where up and down was really hard. Back nine was a little better for par-3s. Except for 16 (double bogey). Made a bunch of birdies, I think five, which is not too bad. Just couldn’t save many of them.”
Aditi birdied first, fourth, ninth, 12th and 14th and dropped shots on sixth and eighth and a double bogey on Par-4 16th.
Aditi was 3-under for the day and 10-under for the tournament coming into the final stretch of three holes.
She said, “Just one bad swing that ended up costing me two shots. Feel like sometimes you make a bad swing and it doesn’t cost you anything. You get away with par. That was a bad swing that cost me two strokes.” From being two back of playing partner Minjee, who a short while had an eagle on Par-5 12th, the Indian went four back.
Stating her goal for the final day, she said, “I think not making as many mistakes. The first two days I think I made four bogeys, but then today I dropped four shots just on the day. So try and hopefully not drop any shots (on the final day).
“I feel like I’m hitting it close enough, making enough putts to make enough birdies; just try to think of bogey-free tomorrow.” Minjee Lee in 2022 shot a third-round 69 on way to victory. This time she had a 67 with an eagle, four birdies and one bogey in her 67. Her eagle came at the par-5 12th hole, where she reached the green in two and drained a 20-foot putt.
-PTI
Dagar finishes 37th in Jabra Ladies, plays in Florida next
Diksha Dagar was the lone bright spot for India at the Jabra Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour (LET) on Sunday, finishing tied 37th.
Diksha, who ended a run of four missed cuts at the start of the season, seemed to be working her way back after rounds of 71-74-73.
The other four Indians — Tvesa Malik, Seher Atwal, Amandeep Drall and Vani Kapoor — missed the cut, which fell after two rounds.
Sweden’s Linn Grant, who fell back after two bogeys in the first six holes, rallied on a dramatic final day to beat Anne van Dam by two shots. Grant totalled nine-under-par and clinched her fifth title on the LET.
Diksha did not have a great start as she dropped shots on fourth, sixth and eighth and turned in 3-over. She picked birdies on 13th and 14th but a closing bogey meant 73.
Diksha will now move to the US for the Aramco Team Series event in Florida. She will be joined by Aditi Ashok, who this week was contending on the LPGA, and Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall, who missed the cut in France.
– PTI
TABLE TENNIS
India’s U-19 girls put up grand opening show
The Indian girls began their campaign in the Under-19 category on a winning note, posting a 3-0 triumph over Bangladesh in the South Asian Youth Table Tennis tournament in Itanagar on Sunday.
Yashaswini Ghorpade put India in the lead when she beat Oisha Rohman of Bangladesh in straight games at the Dorjee Khandu Indoor Stadium. Suhana Saini followed it up with another easy win over Sai Khoy Marma, and Taneesha Kotecha completed the task with yet another straight-game victory over Resmi Tanchangya.
Though not linked to the July Asian Youth Championships in Doha, the U-15 Indian girls scored another 3-0 win over Bangladesh to put up a grand show.
-PTI