Diksha in top 10 at halfway mark in German Masters

India's Diksha Dagar fought her way to an even par 73 on the heels of a first round 69 to place herself in the top-10 after two rounds in the Amundi German Masters here. Diksha was tied fifth after the first day, but at 4-under for 36 holes, she was still 4-under and was placed tied sixth, though the majority of the players were still on the course. The lead after the completion of the first round was shared by four players with first day scores of 5-under 68 each.

They were Alice Hewson of England, Helen Briem of Germany, Amelia Garvey of New Zealand and Ellinor Sudow of Sweden. In the second round, Diksha started from the 10th and bogeyed the third hole, which was the 12th of the Green Eagles course. She made up on the very next hole, but again dropped a shot on the Par-5 16th and turned in 1-over.

She rallied on the second nine with birdies on the second and closing hole, the ninth. She bogeyed the third in between as she finished the day even par. After a modest finish last week, Diksha will be looking to regain her momentum as she sets herself up with a strong start to the week. Diksha, who has set her eyes on her home event, the Hero Women's Indian Open later this season, began her opening day on the front nine and by the hallway mark had made two birdies and two bogeys.

On the back nine Diksha had consecutive birdies on the 12th and 13th holes and then on the 17th and 18th holes to finish the day with a card of 4-under 69, one stroke behind the leaders. Of the other Indians in the field, the next best was Vani Kapoor, who got off to a good start this week and played a round of 1-under 72 to end the day at tied 24 with two birdies and one bogey. She was tied 24th after the first round.

Avani Prashanth (73) was T-39, Tvesa Mallik (74) was T-52, and they will both need to play steady to make the cut alongside Diksha and Vani. Sneha Singh (78) and Amandeep Drall (78) were T-106, Hitaashee Bakshi (79) was T-114. Neha Tripathi (83) was T-129 and Vidhatri Urs (93) was T-131 and will require low second rounds to make the weekend.

Among the early leaders, Hewson was the only player in the lead group to have played a bogey-free first round, while Helen Briem, the highest ranked player on the LET Order of Merit playing this week, would be looking to improve her position. Shannon Tan is the only other player playing this week who is within the top 10 on the Order of Merit and currently sits tied ninth on the standings after shooting a first round of 3-under 70. PTI