India's Hitaashee Bakshi shares clubhouse lead at Singapore Ladies Masters

India’s Hitaashee Bakshi at Singapore Ladies Masters (Image: Singapore Ladies Masters)

Singapore, June 16 (ANI): Hitaashee Bakshi played a marathon 28 holes in overcast, and sometimes wet conditions and multiple stoppages on the second day to put herself in a good position at the Singapore Ladies at the Laguna Golf Resort. Hitaashee was 3-under for 36 holes and the joint clubhouse leader with China's Zixuan Wang (71-70). Both were 3-under 141.

Hitaashee, who had played only eight holes of her first round on Friday, finished the remaining 10 for a 1-over 73. She came back soon after and finished the second round in 4-under 68 just before play was called due to darkness. Hitaashee's 68 was the equal best among the completed second rounds so far.

Indian amateur Mahreen Bhatia finished 76-76 at 8-over. She will need to wait to see if she makes the cut, which is currently at 7-over. Eighty players will come back in the morning to finish their second round.

The third Indian, Seher Atwal, had a heartbreak as she was disqualified for playing her final hole after the horn had been sounded for stoppage due to darkness. She thought it was up to her whether or not she wanted to finish the final hole which she, however, had not started when the horn was sounded. She was at 5-over for 36 holes and well inside the cutline but was disqualified because she was expected to stop and come back in the morning to play the final hole.

Hitaashee said, "I played 28 holes today. I came at 5.30 am in the morning. It was a super long day and very, very tiring. But I am very glad I managed to pull it off today and finish my second round today."

She added, "Towards the end the other two players in my group and I played fast to try and finish as soon as possible. I am glad we did that. Now I will get some rest in the morning."

On her play during the day, she said, "When I started making birdies, I felt like the rhythm was getting up. Then suddenly, they would have the siren again and the game would stop. It happened more than a few times and it was mentally exhausting. Physically, I had already prepared myself to play in conditions like this. So, I was able to cope."

It was a long day and she lapsed only right at the end when she made one mistake after being two-on on the Par-4 ninth hole, her closing hole. In fading light, she three-putted from inside 30 feet when she pushed her second putt from about seven feet and it slid past for a bogey. From 5-under for the day she dropped to 4-under for the round and 3-under for the tournament.

"That was probably the only mistake I made today during the long day with 28 holes and multiple stoppages," added the cheery 19-year-old, who has had four Top-20s in the last few weeks on the Thailand LPGA and the Taiwan LPGA events. She is playing in a third different country in around five weeks.

First round leader Cai Danlin, who shot 67 on the first day, was 1-under through four holes in the second for a total of 6-under. Thailand's Nanthikarn Raksachat (70 and 2-under through 14 holes) and amateur Ruolin Song, who (68 and even through three holes) were at 4-under. They will come in the morning to complete their second round.

Amateur Mahreen got a taste of the tough pro circuit, as she completed her remaining nine holes of the first round and soon after played 18 in the second. After a 1-under first nine in the first round, she had a 5-over second nine for a 76. She again played 4-over for the second as she missed a lot of makeable putts in the wet weather and was also hampered by multiple stoppages.

At 8-over Mahreen is just outside the projected cut. She could still squeeze in as around 80 players have to complete their second round on Sunday. (ANI)

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