Women's Golf Association of India

Hitaashee Bakshi in Top-10 as Rain Disrupts Wistron Ladies Open in Taipei

Taipei, Oct 25: India’s Hitaashee Bakshi made the most of her limited time on course at the Wistron Ladies Open, carding 3-under through 14 holes before play was halted. She sits Tied-sixth in the unfinished first round. Play has been hit hard by heavy rain for the past few days.

After two frustrating days of waiting for the weather to clear, Hitaashee finally teed off on Saturday. Despite an early setback with a bogey on the second hole, the 20-year-old regrouped quickly, rolling in four consecutive birdies from the sixth to the ninth. Turning in 3-under, she added another birdie on the 12th to move up the leaderboard before dropping a shot on the 14th. When play was suspended due to fading light, she was comfortably placed inside the top-10.

The event, co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET) and TLPGA, was originally scheduled for 54 holes. However, persistent rain since midweek forced officials to first shorten it from 72 to 54 holes, and then again to 36 holes.

There will be no cut and all players will compete in the final round. Hitaashee will return Sunday morning to complete her remaining four holes before starting her final round.

Among other Indians in the field, Tvesa Malik and Pranavi Urs carded matching 74s to lie Tied-73rd, while Avani Prashanth struggled to a 78 and was placed T-104. With the revised format, all three will get another opportunity to improve their standings.

At the top, Thailand’s Nook Sukapan leads after a brilliant 6-under 66, though former World No. 1 Yani Tseng, playing in the same group as Hitaashee, was also at 6-under through 14 holes when play stopped. Lauren Walsh of Ireland and Ya Chung Chang of Chinese Taipei posted 68s to share third place alongside Kultida Pramphum of Thailand, who had one hole left to finish.

Despite the rain-shortened schedule, the Wistron Ladies Open remains an official counting event for the 2025 LET season. Order of Merit leader Shannon Tan of Singapore will be looking to consolidate her advantage this week, with England’s Mimi Rhodes just 239.46 points behind and only two events left on the calendar.