Diksha fights back to make cut in Finland alongside Pranavi

Siuntio (Finland), Jul 1 (PTI) India’s Diksha Dagar fought back strongly in the second round to make the cut alongside compatriot Pranavi Urs at the Ladies Open with a 4-under 68 here.

Needing a good solid second round after a birdie-less first round of 74, Diksha played a stunning 5-under for the front nine but then dropped two bogeys against just one birdie on the back nine.

The round of 68 meant she was 2-under for 36 holes and comfortably made the cut in tied 32nd place.

Pranavi was the only other Indian to make the cut as she added 1-under 71 to her first round 72 to be 1-under and was tied 40th. Pranavi, the No. 1 Indian golfer on the domestic Women’s Pro Golf Tour in 2022, had three birdies against two bogeys.

The remaining four Indians, Tvesa Malik (74-73), Ridhima Dilawari (73-75), Amandeep Drall (73-77) and Seher Atwal (78-72), missed the cut which fell at even par.

Diksha, who won the Czech Ladies Open a week earlier, struggled in tough conditions on the first day, but played superbly on the second. She now has a chance to move up further on the final day.

Johanna Gustavsson took a one shot lead into the final round after carding a second successive 66 on a long second day.

After finishing her first round early on Friday following storm suspensions a day earlier, the Swede got straight to business when she made three birdies in a row on the 5th, 6th and 7th.

With Carmen Alonso leading the way ahead of her, Gustavsson then piled pressure on the Spaniard when she posted two more red numbers on the 11th and 12th.

A bogey on the 13th briefly halted Gustavsson’s momentum before two brilliant birdies on the 16th and 18th catapulted the 30-year-old into the lead on 12-under-par.

One behind Gustavsson was Alonso, who produced another stellar display to fire a 69 (-3) despite bogeying her final two holes.

Christine Wolf was in solo third after shooting 69 (-3) to take her total score to 10-under-par.

Finland’s Linda Osala sat in solo fourth on nine-under-par. England’s Meghan MacLaren was one shot back in fifth position.

The cut fell at even-par with 62 players making it to the final round.