India's Pranavi Urs returned a superb four-under 66 in the third round to take a three-stroke lead and place herself in strong contention for an individual gold medal at the Asian Games women's golf competition on Friday. The 23-year-old from Mysuru, who is making her Games debut, has a total of 15-under 195, three shots clear of Singapore's Shannon Tan, who stumbled to a one-over 71 in the third round to surrender the lead she had held overnight. A stroke behind Shannon was China's Yin Ruoning. She signed for a flawless four-under 66 for a total of 11-under 199.
Pranavi's card was studded with five birdies against a solitary bogey on the par-four 14th hole. She played a blemish-free front nine, picking up shots on the first, third and eighth holes.
Her other two birdies came on the 13th and 18th holes.
It was a big third-day leap, traditionally known as 'Moving Day' in golf, and it also lifted the Indian women's team, comprising Pranavi (66-63-66), Aditi Ashok (71-74-70) and Diksha Dagar (71-73-71), to second place, four shots behind China.
China's total, based on the two best scores on each of the three days, is 405. India have a cumulative score of 409, while Hong Kong are at 411.
After three days of golf in Nagoya, India have given themselves two genuine opportunities to add to their Asian Games medal tally.
For the second successive Asian Games, an Indian woman holds the 54-hole lead. Aditi Ashok had done so in Hangzhou in 2023.
Despite taking a seven-shot lead into the final round in China, Aditi carded a 77 on the final day and ended up with silver.
The team finished fourth and Aditi's silver remains the only women's golf medal won by India at the Asian Games.
Pranavi, who is the only Indian woman golfer to have won a mixed professional event, achieving the feat at the IGPL Invitational Mumbai last year, was pleased with her showing but admitted she had a few regrets.
"Wish I could have holed more putts on the back nine. Hopefully, I'm saving them for tomorrow. Overall, it was pretty solid from tee to green. I just didn't hit a lot of bad shots," she said.
Pranavi has been knocking on the door of a Ladies European Tour (LET) title, and when asked if the Asian Games could help her get there, she added:
"I hope so. That's all I can hope for. I am just going to take it shot by shot. The result is not in my control anyway."
"Today, I was just focused on my game. I just played my game and stuck to my game plan. As for improving and maturing, I would like to think so. It's been three years on the LET Tour and, obviously, I haven't won yet. I'm still knocking on the door for my first win. Hopefully, I get that soon."
Men Stumble
Things did not go well for the men's team, though Veer Ahlawat returned a card of five-under 65, aided by four birdies on the back nine. His rounds have been 71, 68 and 65 for a total of six-under.
Ahlawat's 65 helped him break into the top 10 at 10th place, while Saptak Talwar (66-68-71) was 11th at five-under overall. Yuvraj Sandhu (71-69-71) was one-over and tied for 23rd.
In the team competition, where the top scores each day are counted, the Indian men are 11-under and in sixth place.
Pranavi began the day with a flourish, making two birdies in the first three holes as her rival Shannon dropped a shot. A two-shot deficit quickly became a one-shot advantage for the Indian.
Tan, who was playing alongside Pranavi, then dropped another shot on the fifth, while Pranavi birdied the eighth to move three ahead at the turn. A bogey from Tan on the 10th increased the gap to four.
Throughout the round, Pranavi remained steady, striking the ball well and putting confidently, although a couple of makeable putts failed to drop.
The momentum shifted when Tan, a two-time Ladies European Tour winner, bounced back with three consecutive birdies from the 11th to the 13th. Pranavi managed only one birdie, on the 13th, reducing the gap to two.
Both players dropped shots on the 14th, while Pranavi holed a nerveless 14-footer for par on the 15th. Pars followed for both on the 16th as the tension became visible on their faces, though not in their play. Pranavi then sealed her round with a birdie on the 18th to card a 66 and take a three-shot lead.
Chasing Pranavi and Tan is the highly accomplished Yin Ruoning, who turned 24 four days ago. Playing alongside the leading pair, Yin, a six-time LPGA Tour winner, including the 2023 Women's PGA Championship, produced a bogey-free 66 to remain firmly in contention.
The men's individual competition is being led by South Korea's Tom Kim (66-67-65), who, at 12-under, is one shot ahead of Chinese Taipei's Wang Wei Hsuan (65-66-68) and Japan's Kazuki Higa (65-67-67), both of whom are at 11-under.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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