Bengaluru, Jun 18 (PTI) Anvitha Narender, who turned pro only last week, and Sneha Singh, the 2023 Hero order of Merit leader, were among the four co-leaders at the end of the first day of the eighth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Bangalore Golf Club here on Tuesday.

Anvitha and Sneha shared the lead with Rhea Jha and amateur Lavanya Jadon with 1-under 69 each.

Also Read | India Women Likely Playing XI for 2nd ODI vs South Africa Women: Check Predicted Indian 11 for IND-W vs SA-W Match in Bengaluru.

They were followed by Seher Atwal who shot even par while three others, amateur Saanvi Somu, Gaurabi Bhowmick and Snigdha Goswami carded 1-over 71 each on a crowded leader board.

Also Read | Shreyas Iyer Likely To Be Recalled for ODI Series Against Sri Lanka, Abhishek Sharma and Mayank Yadav in Contention for Zimbabwe T20Is.

Vidhatri Urs, third on her pro debut last week, was among three players at T-9 with 2-over 72. The other two were Disha Kavery and Rhea Purvi Saravanan.

A week after new pro Vidhatri had taken the first round lead in the seventh leg, Anvitha, also playing only her second event as a pro, found herself in the lead bunch after 18 holes.

Anvitha had a birdie on the ninth and a bogey on the 10th, and then birdied 16th and 18th with a dropped shot in between on 17th.

Rhea Jha had four birdies, including two on 16th and the 17th, but also had three bogeys, while Sneha had six birdies, including two on the first two holes and five bogeys, two of them on the two closing holes for her 69.

Lavanya, who has been showing a lot of promise on the amateur circuit, dropped a double bogey on the second and a bogey on the fourth to be 3-over after four holes. She staged a fine comeback with five birdies to get to 2-under before a late bogey on the tough Par-5 17th pulled her back to 1-under.

Seher had three each of birdies and bogeys and was just one behind the leading quartet.

Last week winner Gaurika Bishnoi, who had two birdies on the front nine, dropped two double bogeys on the 12th and the 14th and closed with a bogey on the 18th for a 3-over 73.

Hitaashee Bakshi, dashing in from the Singapore Ladies Masters where she was third on Sunday, had a rough day.

Arriving late for a practice round on Monday, she had seven pars to begin with as she missed a few makeable birdie putts. Then she went out of bounds on the Par-5 eighth and had a triple bogey followed by a bogey.

Two more bogeys on the 17th and the 18th meant, she was six-over and without a birdie on the card. She was T-22nd.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)