Ridhima and Tvesa tied 17th at La Sella Open

 Indian golfers Ridhima Dilawari and Tvesa Malik were tied 17th at 2-under 70 each at the end of the first round of the La Sella Open on the Ladies European Tour here.

The other two Indians, Pranavi Urs (even par 72) and Seher Atwal (73), were placed T-31 and T-63 respectively.

Ridhima, who finished late on Thursday evening, had a bogey start and then had three birdies against two bogeys in an action-filled five-hole stretch between the eighth and the 12th. At even par through 16, she birdied her last two holes for a solid 2-under card.

Tvesa teed off from the 10th and had a steady back-nine with eight pars and a birdie on the par-4 15th. On her second nine, she started with a birdie on the first and added one more on the third to go to a healthy 3-under.

She then dropped her only shot of the day on the par-3 fourth and parred the remaining holes for a 2-under card.

Pranavi had three birdies and three bogeys in her 72.

It was a tightly-packed leaderboard at the end of the first day with Virginia Elena Carta, Helen Briem and Elina Nummenpaa sharing the lead. They all fired 5-under 67 each at the one million euro event.

Italy's Carta rolled in birdies on the second and third holes before adding another on the seventh. She then made two birdies in the last two holes to seal the clubhouse lead on five-under.

Germany's Briem, a four-time winner on the LET Access Series (LETAS), also had a good start, producing a round of five-under.

Finland's Nummenpaa was in the afternoon wave and had six birdies and one bogey on her scorecard for her round of 67.

Five players are in the share of the fourth place with Samantha Bruce of the Philippines, Finland's Ursula Wikstrom, France's Nastasia Nadaud, Japan's Ayako Uehara and Australia's Kirsten Rudgeley on four-under.