Golf: Nishna, Avani only Indians to make cut in Women's Amateur Asia Pacific

Singapore, March 10 Nishna Patel in tied 13th place and Avani Prashanth in tied 19th were the only two Ind to make the cut from the six-member team at the Womens Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship (WAAP), here on Friday.

Nishna, who had a terrible front 3-over front nine, shot 3-under with three birdies and no bogeys on the back nine for even par 72. Avani Prashanth, still missing a lot of putts, added 1-under 71 to her first round 73 and is now tied 19th.

While Nishna is 1-under 143 for two rounds, Avani is even par 144.

While Nishna and Avani made the cut, the other four Indian girls, Mannat Brar (76-77), Anika Varma (74-81), Lavanya Jadon (78-79) and Vidhatri Urs (77-81) missed the cut, which fell at 6-over 150.

Thailand's Eila Galitsky and Sophie Han of Hong Kong, China, joined overnight leader Minsol Kim of Korea on top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage.

In Friday's second round at Singapore Island Country Club, 16-year-old Galitsky (67) and 15-year-old Han (68) played in the morning and made the most of the favourable conditions with solid rounds. Galitsky was strong with her wedges, while Han's putter was red-hot. They set the clubhouse mark of eight-under par 136, matched later in the day by Kim (69).

Nishna said the recent experience of Queen Sirikit Cup, where the Ind finished second helped her a lot. She has also played in two previous WAAP competitions.

Avani, the Queen Sirikit Cup winner, continued to have problems with the putter. She missed more than half a dozen putts inside 12 feet. Still, she finished with a birdie on the ninth, her last hole of the second round.

"I had a tough front nine with two early bogeys. But I stayed calm and it paid off on the back nine. The putting was far better today. However it was tough pulling the cart on a course like this which is tough," Nishna said.

Korea's Jiyoo Lim shot the round of the day, a bogey-free eight-under par 64, matching the championship record held jointly by Thailand's Kan Bunnabodee (Abu Dhabi 2021, second round) and Australia's Becky Kay (2019 Japan, first round). Lim improved to tied fourth position at 138, where she was joined by China's Zixin Ni (70).

The cut was applied at six-over par 150, with 51 players advancing to the weekend rounds. Among those who made the cut was China's 12-year-old Yujie Liu (77, tied 32nd).

Galitsky, a quarter-finalist in the Girls Amateur in Carnoustie last year and tied 35th in WAAP in Thailand last year, said she could feel her game trending in the right direction lately.

Han finds herself in a position to create history for Hong Kong, China. No player from her country has ever won the premier Asia-Pacific amateur title.

The World No. 415, who was tied 29th last year, said she was feeling confident about her chances after a round that had seven birdies, at least four of which came from putts longer than 20 feet.

Kim made two birdies after the turn on the first and second holes, but finished with seven straight pars in her three-under 69 round.

Chinese Taipei's Ting-Hsuan Huang, the defending champion, shot an even-par 72 to be tied 10th at two-under total, while Japan's Rin Yoshida, the highest-ranked player in the field at number four, added a 71 to her Thursday 75 and was tied 30th.