Belgian Ladies Open: Diksha Dagar secures second place

Diksha Dagar fired a superb 5-under 67 and rose to second place in the Belgian Ladies Open. Diksha, who was only the second Indian to win on the Ladies European Tour, added 67 to her first round 71 and, at 6-under, she was two shots behind the leader, Maria Hernandez (69-67) with one round to go in the three-round event.

While Diksha flourished, the others Indians struggled. Amandeep Drall, who shot 72 in the first round and had seven pars in seven holes in the second, was in tied-36th place. Vani Kapoor, after 75 in the first round was 2-over in six holes in the second, while Seher Atwal, who had an 80 in the first round, was even par after seven holes in the second and was sure to miss the cut, as was Tvesa Malik (77-80).

Diksha, who had five birdies and four bogeys in the first round, once again had five birdies but this time there were no bogeys in a superb display. Starting from the 10th, she birdied the 12th and 13th and then gained further on the fifth, seventh and eighth. Maria Hernandez of Spain, after 3-under 69 in the first round, had six birdies against one bogey in the second round.

England’s Lily May Humphrey (71-68) and Mireia Prat of Spain with 68-71 were tied third.Anna Magnusson of Sweden, who fired an opening round of 66 (-6) to lead by two shots at the end of the first day, collapsed to 81 in the second and was 3-over for the tournament and in danger of missing the cut. Charlotte Liautier of France and Switzerland’s Elena Moosmaann were tied fifth at 4-under totals for 36 holes. Three other players, Cara Gainer, Olivia Cowan and Virgina Elena Carta, were also 4-under but were yet to finish their second round.