Vaishavi second, Nocera in lead in Women's Indian Open golf

Gwladys Nocera

Indian woman golfer Vaishavi Sinha retained her second position despite a subdued two-under 71 after the second round of the $300,000 Hero Women's Indian Open as overnight leader Gwladys Nocera remained in the lead here.

Vaishavi, who created a sensation with her stunning performance in the first round by carding a six-under 67 took her total to eight-under 138 that leaves her two strokes adrift of Nocera going into the third and final round Saturday at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC).

Compared to the fireworks Thursday that saw Nocera return an error-free round, the French golfer had a much more subdued outing in the second round. The former Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit winner dug deep into her experience to score two birdies and a bogey. The highlight of her play was her ability to extricate herself from difficult situations, especially on hole Nos. 14 and 16.

"I think I did reasonably well given that I didn't putt too well. I took 33 putts. Today, the pin positions were tough and pretty tricky. It was easy to make mistakes. Thankfully, my driving and iron play were good," the 12-time winner on the LET Nocera said.

Vaishavi, teeing off from the 10th hole, sunk three birdies on the 11th, 13th and 18th and a bogey on the 12th. On the turn, she scored two more birdies on the first and second, but two back-to-back bogeys cancelled out the gains, leaving her at two-under for the day, which was enough to retain sole second place on the board.

Vaishavi, who will turn 24 Saturday, is looking forward to give herself the biggest birthday present in her golfing career. But she is aware of what lies ahead in the decider.

Defending champion Thidapa Suwannapura of Thailand, who was in tied fifth place overnight, moved into sole third place after carding two-under 71. In her second outing, the Thai golfer scored five birdies and three bogies.

The biggest gainer on the day was India's Sharmila Nicollet. From tied 10th place after first round, the lanky Indian golfer moved into tied fourth with a card of two-under.

However, her scorecard doesn't reflect her aggressive play that saw her sink an eagle on the 8th. She also sunk four birdies that were unfortunately undone by four bogies spread evenly on either side of the turn.