Gurgaon: Vani Kapoor and Neha Tripathi sizzled with identical scores of 6 under 66 in the second round to grab the lead in the seventh leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour being played at the Classic Golf & Country Club here on Thursday. One shot adrift, in joint third position are Kiran Matharu and Gursimar Badwal at 141 after the penultimate round. The INR 7,00,000 event will culminate on Friday.

Delhi’s Vani Kapoor, who had struggled in the first round, played a flawless round today. She carded four birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th holes in her front nine. She added two more on the 17th and 18th to finish the round with a total score of 140 after 36 holes. Hero Order of Merit leader Neha Tripathi played a cautious front nine, carding a birdie and a bogey apiece on the 5th and 7th holes respectively. However, the professional from Kolkata turned on the heat in the latter half, firing four birdies on the 10th, 15th, 16th and 17th holes, along with an eagle on the 18th to share the lead with Vani Kapoor.

Defending champion Kiran Matharu carded 1 under 71 in the second round. She carded three birdies on the 2nd, 9th and 18th holes while dropping shots on the 4th and 8th to finish with a total score of 141. Gursimar Badwal played an impressive round of 5 under 67 on the day to share the third position with Kiran Matharu. Her campaign on the day included six birdies on the 3rd, 4th, 10th, 14th, 15th and 18th holes along with just a lone bogey on the 5th.

Overnight leader Amandeep Drall could not replicate her first round heroics and carded 2 over 74 to finish the round in tied fifth position with Bengaluru’s Sharmila Nicollet. Amandeep played a bogey free front nine with a birdie on the 3rd hole. However, three bogeys on the 15th, 17th and 18th meant that she had to be content with a total score of 142 after the second round. Hero Motocorp sponsored Sharmila Nicollet carded four birdies on the 1st, 7th, 9th and 10th holes while dropping a single shot on the 8th to finish the round with a score of 3 under 69.

Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra is placed seventh with a total score of 147, followed by Delhi’s Mehar Atwal and Mehak Sharma in tied eighth position at 148.