Aditi wins her 2nd match, stays in hunt for knockout berth in LPGA matchplay

Las Vegas, May 26 (PTI) India’s Aditi Ashok recovered from the opening day reversal to claim a win over USA’s Caroline Inglis in the second match and stay in the hunt for a spot in the knockout stage of LPGA Match-Play here. Aditi, who lost her first match on the 18th hole, won her second match against Inglis as she held off the American to win 1-up. The 25-year-old from Bengaluru has now won one match and lost one as have the other three players in the group. The hugely talented Jennifer Kupcho, who opened with a loss to Inglis, beat Perrine Delacour, who had beaten Aditi 1-up in the first set of matches. Kupcho won 2&1.
Aditi meets Kupcho and Inglis meets Delacour in the last set of matches in Group 10 of the 64-player tournament. The 64 players have been divided into 16 groups and winner of each will move to the knock out stage to be played over the weekend.

Coming off two Top-5 finishes on the LPGA including a loss in the play-off in the JM Eagle championship, Aditi has won her fourth title on the Ladies European earlier this season and leads the LET Order of Merit. Aditi won the third hole but lost the fourth and again won the seventh but lost the ninth as she and Inglis were tied at the turn. The Indian won the 11th only to see Inglis tie again on 14th. A par on 15th and a birdie on par-5 16th put Aditi 2-up with two to go. Inglis fought back again to win the 17th but they parred the Par-5 18th as the Indian won the match. Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela defeated top-seeded American Lilia Vu 2-up as the fight for round-of-16 berths became intense.

Valenzuela improved to 2-0 with her win over Vu, the highest-ranked player in the field at fourth in the world and winner of her first major title at the Chevron Championship last month. China’s Lin Xiyu, the highest-ranked player in her group, suffered a second straight defeat with her 3&2 loss to Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn. Defending champion Ji Eun-hee, who had opened with a victory on Wednesday, lost to Canadian Maddie Szeryk 3&2. Valenzuela was among 10 players to improve to 2-0, a group that also included American Ally Ewing — winner of the inaugural edition in 2021 — and 2022 runner-up Ayaka Furue of Japan. Three-time major winner Anna Nordqvist of Sweden notched her second-straight win, leading 4-up before holding on for a 1-up win over Lauren Coughlin. Sweden’s Maja Stark also won her second-straight match, downing Liu Yu of China 2&1.