Helsingborg (Sweden), Jun 7 (PTI) Diksha Dagar was hanging in by a slender thread even as Shubhankar Sharma found a smooth passage into the weekend rounds at the Scandinavian Mixed Open here on Friday.

Sharma, who had a superb start in the first round with three birdies, shot 69 in the first round and repeated that in the second.

In both rounds, he had five birdies against two bogeys to be 6-under and was Tied-13th after two rounds.

With the second round still in progress, Diksha, after a 75 in the first round, needed a very low second round to stay on and end her jinx of missed cuts in. the event.

She was 1-over for the second round through nine holes, and the cut looked likely at 1-under or, at best, even par.

Diksha, who had a birdie against four bogeys on the first day, had a birdie against two bogeys in the 10 holes she had played. She had eight more to go and needed a bunch of birdies to make the cut.

The 33-year-old Swede, Sebastian Söderberg, who has a World Tour title, started his home tournament finely.

He carded an opening round nine under par 63 added a 66 to get to a whopping 15-under, and held a six-shot lead over his closest rival, Spain’s Jorge Campillo (68-67), and another Swede Alexander Bjork was lying third at 8-under with 69-67.

Soderberg, 33, had seven birdies and an eagle in the first round and then added four birdies and an eagle in the second. He was bogey free for 36 holes.

Five players — Bjork, Alex Fitzpatrick, Calum Hill, Dylan Fritelli and Scott Jamieson — were tied at 8-under, while Fritelli and Jamieson are yet to finish their second rounds.

Though they are playing for the same purse and trophy, three women — Nicole Broch Estrup of Denmark, Johanna Gustavsson of Sweden and Alice Hewson of England — were tied-eighth at 7-under.

Malaysia’s Gavin Green, who produced a first round of 66 (-6), had just begun his second round and had a birdie in his opening two holes.

The innovative Scandinavian Mixed is co-sanctioned by the World Tour and Ladies European Tour, with 78 men and 78 women competing on the same course for a prize fund and a trophy.

The 2022 champion, Linn Grant, who shot 67 in the first round, was 1-over through eight holes in the second round.

Source: PTI News