Hulencourt (Belgium), June 14 (IANS) Avani Prashanth shot a round of 3-under 69 after 4-under par 68 a day earlier to be in second place at the Hulencourt Women’s Open golf.

The 18-year-old from Bengaluru now sits at seven under par, just one stroke behind the leader, Germany’s Helen Briem (68-68) on the Ladies European Tour.

The other Indians in the field to make the cut were Diksha Dagar (72-73) in T-38th place and Tvesa Malik (76-70) in T-50th place.

The other Indians who took part in the Hulencourt Women’s Open this week were Vani Kapoor (76-73), Sneha Singh (74-75), Amandeep Drall (74-76) and Hitaashee Bakshi (79-74) missed the cut.

Avani began her second round on the back nine with a birdie on the tenth and picked up a second shot on the 13th hole. She then had a run of eight pars till the third of the front nine.

On the front nine Avani dropped her first shot of the day on the fourth hole before making birdie on the fifth, dropped another shot on the sixth only to pull it back with a birdie on the seventh hole. She closed her round with a birdie on the ninth hole for a 69.

Diksha after an even par first day, closed the second day with a score of 1-over par to tumble down the order to tied 38 in the second round from T-22 on the first day.

Diksha made three birdies and four bogeys during the second round and has a combined 36 hole score of one over par. Tvesa Malik, who shot 4-over par 76 on the first day, landed an eagle on her finishing hole, the ninth for a round of 2-under 70 and squeeze inside the cut line at two over par. The cut was set at two over par.

The leader at the end of the second round was Helen Briem of Germany as she played for a 4-under 68 for the second day in a row. Briem started her round on the back nine and made birdies on the 10th, 13th and 14th holes. On the front nine she dropped her only shot of the day on the fifth hole and picked up shots on the eighth and ninth holes.

The first day leader Kelsey Bennett of Australia played 1-under par 71 to slip down to third in the standings. Meghan MacLaren (68) without a bogey, and Darcey Hall of Wales, also with a 68, were tied fourth at 5-under totals.

–IANS

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