Avani Prashanth struggles in third round at German Masters

Hamburg [Germany], May 17 : Indian golfer Avani Prashanth slipped down the leaderboard after a difficult third round at the 2026 German Masters on Saturday, while Germany's Alexandra Forsterling surged into a commanding position heading into the final day of the Ladies European Tour (LET) event in Hamburg, according to a release.

Playing in testing conditions at the Green Eagle Golf Courses, Avani carded an eight-over 81 on Saturday to fall to nine-over-par after 54 holes. The Indian youngster had shown tremendous fighting spirit earlier in the tournament, recovering from an opening-round 78 with a superb four-under 69 in the second round to comfortably make the cut.

Avani was the lone Indian golfer to qualify for the weekend after Pranavi Urs missed the cut and Vani Kapoor withdrew following an opening-round 83. However, the challenging North Course, combined with windy weather and a brief hailstorm interruption, made scoring extremely difficult during the third round.

The Bengaluru golfer struggled to build momentum and failed to register a birdie during her round. Four bogeys and two double bogeys eventually saw her tumble down the standings, though she still has one round left to finish the week on a positive note.

At the top of the leaderboard, Forsterling produced one of the best performances of the day with a four-under 69 to move to 10-under-par overall and take a two-shot lead into Sunday's final round.

The German star began the day tied for third place and played steady golf through the front nine before igniting her challenge on the back stretch. After making her first birdie on the eighth hole, Forsterling caught fire with four consecutive birdies from holes 12 to 15.

The four-time Ladies European Tour winner is aiming for her fifth LET title and a second Amundi German Masters crown after winning the tournament in 2024. Forsterling also admitted the performance carried extra significance after dealing with injuries and mental struggles over the past season.

Germany's Chiara Noja and Czech player Sara Kouskova were tied for second place on eight-under-par. Noja carded a two-under 71 that included five birdies despite difficult pin positions and constantly changing weather conditions.

Kouskova remained firmly in contention with a composed round featuring one birdie and one bogey as she stayed patient on a day when many players found the conditions tough to handle Canada's teenage golfer Anna Huang emerged as one of the standout performers of the day after producing a brilliant finish with four straight birdies to shoot 69 and move into a tie for fourth place alongside Germany's Leonie Harm at six-under-par.

Germany's Esther Henseleit and Denmark's Sofie Kibsgaard were tied for seventh place on five-under-par heading into the final round.

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