Miyazaki, May 13 (IANS) Zara Anand was the top Indian at Tied-12th after the first round of the Queen Sirikit Cup here in Japan. Zara, one of the most promising amateurs in India, shot 1-over 73 with three birdies against four bogeys in the round. Two of those bogeys came on the 14th and the 18th.
The other two Indians in the prestigious competition are Heena Kang (76) at T-21 and Mannat Brar (77), who had an off day and was T-25. Heena had two birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey while Mannat had two birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey.
The Indians as a team were lying tied-seventh with the two top individual scores giving them a total of 5-over 149.
Hosts Japan made an encouraging start in their quest to end a home jinx in the Queen Sirikit Cup. They progressed well with three-under-par 69s from Aira Nagasawa and Anna Iwanaga and went into the lead after the opening round of the 45th edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship.
With an aggregate score of six-under 138 in the 13-nation event the Japanese will head into Wednesday’s second round with a one-stroke lead from defending champions Korea.
There is then a four-shot gap back to Thailand in third on 143. They are followed by China (146), Hong Kong, China and Singapore (both 147), India and Vietnam (both 149), Australia and Indonesia (both 150), Chinese Taipei and Malaysia (both 151) and the Philippines (158).
In the individual standings, Nagasawa and Iwanaga were joined at the top of the leaderboard by Korean Oh Soo-min, 10th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and bidding to retain the low individual award she claimed in New Zealand last year.
Several of the pre-event favourites struggled to find their range. There were 75s from Zhou Shiyuan and Xu Ying, both of whom boast victories on the China LPGA Tour, and 76s for Thai Achiraya Sriwong and Japan’s Mamika Shinchi, both in the top-50 in the WAGR.
Australian Sarah Hammett, the individual runner-up last year, signed for an 83, which included a triple-bogey eight at the par-five 16th.
–IANS
bc/ab
*Except for the headings & sub-headings, this story has not been edited by The enewstime.in and has been published from IANS feed.
