Internet Desk: Aditi Ashok put herself in contention for a second straight win on the Ladies European Tour with a flawless six-under 66 at the inaugural Qatar Ladies Open.
Aditi, one of in-form players on the LET, was tied-third one shot behind the co-leaders, Lydia Hall (67-68) and Nanna Koerstz Madden (69-66).
Aditi, who carded two-under 70 on first day shot her best ever round as a pro with a bogey free 66 to get to eight-under 136 while Lydia and Madden are at nine-under.
Aditi shared the third spot with England’s Annabel Dimmock ((69-67) who also had a bogey free round. Of the two other Indian girls in the field, Neha Tripathi (74-70) also made the cut and was Tied-43rd but Vaishavi SInha (73-73) missed out by one shot.
Aditi, who now has one win and four Top-10s in her last six starts, won the Hero Women’s Indian Open 10 days ago to become the first player ever from India win on the LET.
At the Doha Golf Club after a sedate first round of two-under 70 on the opening day, when she missed some putts, Aditi was in excellent form in the second round.
“Today was really good. I didn’t give myself enough chances yesterday so I did that today and I feel it was really good. I’m feeling confident with my game and today was a great day. I hope I can keep the momentum going,” said Aditi.
“I putted really well and four of my birdie putts were outside eight feet, so those were good. I made a 15 footer for par as well on the 14th, so putting and I hit the ball well. I missed a couple because I hit it that well.”
“It was less windy in the morning and I think that helped me a little bit. Yesterday as soon as I started there was a lot of wind at the start but today there wasn’t as much wind and you could attack the pins more.”
Aditi made good use of the excellent playing conditions as she opened birdie-birdie on the second day. She added a third birdie of the day on sixth and then started the back nine with a birdie. Two more birdies on 12th and 15th meant she was six-under, but was unable to find any more.
Despite that it was her best round on the Tour and moved into contention for a second straight victory.
Alexandra Vilatte Farret of France was fifth after shooting (70-67) and is now at seven-under. On a day of low scoring, Swedish pair Caroline Hedwall and Linda Wessberg also had 67s.