Dagar lone Indian semi-finalist in Usha golf

NEW DELHI: Diksha Dagar remained the only Indian hope as the 100th Usha All India Ladies Amateur Golf Championship Matchplay reached the last four stage at the Delhi Golf Club here on Friday.
On a long day, when all the contestants had to play their second round in the morning session and the quarter-final matches in the afternoon, Diksha shone out as a solid player.
Diksha scored two emphatic wins during the day.She outplayed Amanda Tan of Singapore 4&2, finishing the match on the 14th hole, and then finished the quarter final even faster on the 13th hole at 6&5 eliminating fellow Indian Gauri Karhade.
Left-handed Diksha, the leader in the IGU Order of Merit has been in excellent form this season after having had the experience of competing at the World Amateur Team Championships in Mexico as part of the Indian Golf Union's team. She also won the Faldo Series India title in Mumbai to qualify for the Grand Final Asia, which will be held in Vietnam in March 2017.
The 15-year-old Class X student, Diksha, has won four of the eight tournaments she has played this season and finished second in two others.
India's other leading contender, Seher Atwal was taken to the 21st hole before prevailing over Sifat Sagoo. In the quarters, Seher was beaten by Chinese Taipei's Tsai Wei Cha 3&1. Tsai Wei earlier defeated Dolma Rawat.
Top seed and winner of the stroke play, Malaysian Nur Durriah Damian beat Pranavi Urs 4&2 in the second round and then eliminated Callista Chen 2&1 in the quarter-finals to make it to the semi-finals.
Ireland's Maria Dunne beat Geraldine Wong 2&1 and then went the full distance against Sifat Alag before winning 1-Up on the 18th.
The semi-finals tomorrow will see Diksha Dagar tee-off against Tsai Wei Chia, while Nur Durriah Damian will be up against Maria Dunne.