Pranavi Urs fires 7-under 63 to move into second at Asian Games; Talwar slips to T7

Pranavi Urs fired a 7-under 63 in the second round to move into sole second place, two shots behind leader Shannon Tan of Singapore, in the women's golf competition at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Thursday. In the men's event, Saptak Talwar carded a 2-under 68 and dropped to tied seventh at 6-under.

Urs opened her round with back-to-back birdies, sank four birdies in her first six holes, added three more between the 13th and 16th, and completed the 63 without a bogey; she also began with a 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole. Her two-round total of 11-under-par 129 leaves her two shots adrift of Tan (63-64) at 13-under, and Pranavi's score lifted India to third in the women's team standings at seven-under-par 273. Diksha Dagar (71-73) is tied 21st and Aditi Ashok (71-74) is tied 25th; the two best scores in each round count towards the team medals.

Commenting on cricket's crossover into golf, Pranavi quipped, "I think Virat should start golf, he would make golf so popular in India." She also responded to a suggestion that cricketers should watch golf, saying, "For a change they should come watch us."

Pranavi framed the round as a useful step toward forthcoming competition: "Always good to be in contention. Unfortunately, there haven't been a lot of times where I've been in contention on Tour. So to kind of get that momentum going towards the Hero Women's Indian Open in a couple weeks is a good sign," said the Hero supported golfer. She added that she had enjoyed playing in final groups previously: "I’ve been out there in the final group a few times, and I’ve always enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed the pressure," and kept her focus on the next day: "I’m not thinking about anything as of now, I’m just thinking about tomorrow’s round."

On the specifics of her play, Pranavi said: "The game was pretty solid from tee-to-green. Didn’t really have any bad shots. A very good, solid round, and that was that." She explained her approach off the tee and into the greens: "I put myself in good positions off the tee, which gave me good numbers to hit the approach shots. Some of the shots that I got, I was really comfortable with those numbers, and I stuck it in to five feet. Just hitting fairways and greens, that’s always been my game plan."

In the men's competition, Taipei's Wang We Hsuan (65-66) and China's Ding Wenyi (67-64) are tied for the lead at 9-under, with Kazuki Higa (65-67) and Keita Nakajima (66-66) of Japan tied third. Talwar, who had been third after the first round, recorded rounds of 66-68 to sit at 6-under and tied seventh. Team standings show Japan on 264, China 265 and Korea 266 occupying the top three spots in the men's team event, with Chinese Taipei on 269 and India on 273 in fifth.

With 36 holes remaining, India’s women sit five shots behind new leaders China and four behind second-placed Singapore, keeping both individual and team medals within reach. Pranavi will play in the final group for Friday’s third round, two shots behind Shannon Tan, as the competition moves into its penultimate day.