Bangalore, Sep 25 (IANS): Pune's Shweta Galande continued her good run in the 12th leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour at the Prestige Golfshire to open up a one stroke lead over local girl Sharmila Nicollet and overnight leader Neha Tripathi to grab pole position at the end of Round 2 here Thursday.

Shweta, who was trailing Neha and Sharmila after the first round, came back strongly as she carded a one under 71, with four birdies on the first, eighth, ninth and 12th holes as compared to three bogeys on the second, fourth and seventh.

Shweta has had a pretty consistent season so far and is placed fifth in the Order of Merit but a victory has eluded her and this is a perfect platform for her to achieve it.

Sharmila and Neha couldn't manage under par scores but Wednesday's good show ensured a tied second place. Sharmila carded a one over 73 whereas Neha returned with a three over 75. Both have identical totals of 143 at the end of the second round.

Vani Kapoor returned to her old ways as she carded a one over 71 and with a total of 144, is placed fourth. With only three strokes separating her from the leader, she will be hopeful of making a turnaround Friday.

Saaniya Sharma also had a good outing and was only the third player to return with an under par score. With a second round score of one under 71 and a total of 146, she finished at fifth.

Ankita Tiwana returned with figures of one over 73 and with a total of 148 is placed sixth and a position ahead of veteran Smriti Mehra, whose indifferent form continued into Day 2. Smriti carded a two over 74 and has a total of 150 to be placed seventh.

Pallavi Jain and Gursimar Badwal, with identical scores of 153, are eighth.