#TokyoOlympics: Golfer Aditi Ashok holds second spot after third round
Indian golfer Aditi Ashok carded a three-under 67 in the third round to hold on to the second position and remain in strong contention for the country's maiden Olympic medal in the sport in Tokyo Olympics on Friday. Notably, this is Ashok's second Olympic appearance. She had finished tied 41st in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro edition.
She is the only golfer in second position
Ashok was 12-under 201 after three rounds and is the sole golfer in the second position, three strokes adrift of leader Nelly Korda of the USA who carded a two-under 69 in the penultimate round. Four players—New Zealand's Lydia Ko (66), Australia's Hannah Green (67), Demark's Kristine Pederson (70), and Japan's Mone Inami (68)—shared the third spot with totals of 10-under 203.
She fired five birdies, two bogies
Ashok fired five birdies and two bogeys on the day. She was three-under after picking up shots on the fourth, sixth, and seventh holes before bogeys on ninth and 11th pulled her back. However, she made amends with birdies on the 15th and 17th to keep herself in the hunt for a historic medal.
She performed flawlessly in second round as well
Notably, Ashok carded a flawless five-under 66 in the second round of the women's competition as well. The 23-year-old rolled in five birdies, which included three in her last four holes at Kasumigaseki Country Club to lie tied second on nine-under 133 with Danish duo, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (64) and Emily Kristine Pedersen (63).
Dagar remained in lower half of the leaderboard
Meanwhile, the other Indian golfer, Diksha Dagar, remained in the lower half of the leaderboard after an erratic one-over 72, her third successive over-par card of the week. Dagar, who started from the back-nine, managed one birdie against two bogeys in her round on Friday.
