Aida Thimmaiah battles sprained ankle to retain lead at IGU Maharashtra Golf Championship

Despite injuring her left ankle mid-round and playing on painkillers, 12-year-old Aida Thimmaiah carded a gritty one-over 66 on day two to hold a one-shot lead at the IGU Maharashtra Ladies & Junior Girls Golf Championship

Hyderabad: A brave Aida Thimmaiah played with a sprained ankle en route to a gritty one-over 66 to stay ahead of the field on the second day of the IGU Maharashtra Ladies & Junior Girls Golf Championship at the Willingdon Club in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The 12-year-old took her two-day aggregate to even-par 130 for a one-shot lead over Yogya Bhalla, who also shot an identical 66. Janneya A Dasanniee, competing for honours in the Ladies category, returned an even-par 65 score to sit in third place, three strokes further back.

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The highlight of the day was Smira Bhambri’s one-under 64, but the Haryana girl was seven shots off the pace in tied sixth spot.

Aida hurt her left ankle on the way to the 13th tee box and played most of the round on painkillers. The Coorg girl, who started on the back nine, was a trifle streaky with her putting, and her ball-striking wasn’t as sharp as she would have hoped for.

Despite the struggle, Aida held her own, mixing two birdies with three bogeys. She birdied the third and ninth holes, while dropping shots on the second (three-putt), fourth and 14th holes (missed a 15-foot putt).

Uttar Pradesh’s Vidushi Singh submitted a card of five-over 70 to vault to the top in Category ‘C’ (11-12 years) with a two-day total of 16-over 146. Karnataka’s Aashna Amogha (78) slipped to the second spot at 19-over 149.

Leading scores (after 36 holes, Combined Ladies, Category ‘A’ (15-17) & ‘B’ (13-14): 130: Aida Thimmaiah (Kar, 64, 66); 131: Yogya Bhalla (Del, 65, 66); 134: Janneya A Dasanniee (Guj, 69, 65); 135: Ayesha Gupta (Del, 66, 69); 136: Ceerat Kang (Har, 69, 67); 137: Smira Bhambri (Har, 73, 64), Guntas Kaur Sandhu (Chd, 71, 66), Rabab Kahlon (Pun, 68, 69), Mehak Lohan (Har, 67, 70).

Category ‘C’ (11-12): 146: Vidushi Singh (UP, 76, 70); 149: Aashna Amogha (Kar, 71, 78); 150: Nandini Rathee (Har, 72, 78); 151: Gairat Kaur Kahlon (77, 74); 154: Aaliyah Kalra (Har, 71, 83).