India's Aditi Ashok maintained her form on the Ladies European Tour, as she opened the event with a steady two-under 70 that placed her Tied-10th at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters here today.
Aditi, winner of the last two LET events - the Hero Women's Indian Open and Qatar Ladies - has also qualified for LPGA membership through Q-School last week.
Aditi had four birdies against two bogeys, both of which came on the front nine of theMajlis course at the Emirates Golf Club.
India's other entry Smriti Mehra shot 80 and was lying way down.
England's Florentyna Parker completed an opening round of five-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Frenchwoman Sophie Giquel-Bettan and Cheyenne Woods of the USA at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.
Parker, who is ranked fourth on the LET Order of Merit, had posted seven birdies on the back nine yesterday morning before play was suspended due to the sudden death of caddie Maximilian Zechmann, for which there was a minute's silence at noon today.
After returning to the course, Parker played the front nine in 38, with a pair of birdies against two bogeys and a double-bogey on her last hole, the ninth.
Cheyenne Woods, who held a share of the lead on seven-under-par after 11 holes, briefly took the outright lead on six-under-par, despite a bogey on the fourth hole, but her double bogey on the eighth hole saw her drop behind Parker.
The defending champion and world number four, Shanshan Feng, from China, opened her campaign with a level par 72, which was her worst score since the first round of the 2013 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, where she finished fifth.
She won the title in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
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