Gurbani drops to 12th, Indian team stays at 8th

Yangmei City: Gurbani Singh dropped four places to tied 12th despite improving on her first round score by one shot in the second round of the Queen Sirikit Cup at Sunrise Golf and Country Club here on Thursday.

Even as Gurbani continued to be the best Indian at five-over 149, she was six shots adrift of the individual leaders -- World No. 4 amateur Su Hyun-Oh (74-69) of Australia and Gyeol Park (72-71). The other Indians, Aditi Ashok (81-77) is at 28th place and Raksha Phadke (78-82) at 160 in 30th spot, are way behind. Gurbani, the only Indian in world`s top-100 amateurs, was tied eighth after first round. She had one birdie and three bogeys in her second round. The Indian continued to languish in eighth place in team standings, where the Australians World No. 2 Minjee Lee, Grace Lennon and Su Hyun Oh will take a one-stroke lead into the final round. Sitting fourth after the opening round, Oh, an Australian of Korean origin, fired a 3-under par 69 and her teammate Minjee Lee, also of Korean origin, posted an even par 72 to move Australia into the lead at one-over par. Lennon finished with a second round 78. Japan and Thailand are tied in second place, one stroke behind the Australians with the Korean team in fourth place, four strokes back. Taiwan are in fifth place. In the individual standings, Su Hyun Oh shared the lead with Korean Gyeol Park at 1-under par. Minjee Lee is tied in fifth place at 2-over par. The winner of the individual section will receive an invitation to the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship in October on the LPGA Tour. The championship, one of the premier events in the Asia-Pacific region, is hosted annually on a rotation basis among 14 invited member countries. The Queen Sirikit Cup uses a three-to-play, two-to-count format. PTI