Aditi best Indian; Nalini top Indian pro

Gurgaon, Dec. 1:The Indian contingent which had a brilliant start on Friday was somewhat subdued on Saturday, but 14-year-old school girl, Aditi Ashok, held her nerves to shoot a 74 that kept her as the best Indian at one-under 143 and in tied 10th alongside the likes of ISPS Handa Order of Merit leader Carlota Ciganda (75-68) and Becky Morgan (70-73).

Nalini Singh Siwach (74, three-over 147), went through contrasting emotions on the front and back nines. “I just could not do anything right for first 10 holes and then everything fell in place,” said Nalini, who is due to play LET Q-School next week. “I was five-over after 10 but had four birdies and one bogey after that. I was not releasing the club fully and then things started happening for me. It was a relief to find the rhythm back.” Smilingly, she added, “I am going to give it a good shot tommorrow. I know I am playing well.” Sharmila (73-76), who had another eagle on Saturday, continued to mis-read the greens while Vani Kapoor who had 10 pars to start with was still without a birdie in two days.

Sharmila started on the tenth and was in deep trouble at five-over through eight holes. She found a birdie on 18th and then eagled the sixth for the second day running, but gave away shots on seventh and ninth to finish on a disappointing note. “There was a lot of misreads and mis-hitting. My reading of the greens was a bit off, though I putted decent. The eagle on the sixth was the redeeming feature. I hit a driver and hybrid and landed within eight feet. Thankfully I holed that!.”

Indians making the cut: Aditi Ashok (A) (69-74) was tied 10th; Nalini Singh Siwach (73-74), tied 33rd; Sharmila Nicollet (73-76) tied 43rd; Gurbani Singh (A) (76-73), 43rd; Vani Kapoor (75-75) tied 47th and Millie Saroha (A) (76-76) tied 62nd.