Neha, who has been a runner-up in two of her last three starts, is one shot clear of Amandeep Drall (70), who has not featured on the domestic circuit since the first two legs.
There is a three-way tie for the third place with Tvesa Malik, Gaurika Bishnoi and amateur Ridhima Dilawari carding 71 each. Yet another young amateur, Sifat Sagoo, shot an even par 72 to be sole sixth. One shot behind Sifat was Trisha Sunil (73) in seventh place.
Two of the pre-tournament favourites, Vani Kapoor and Gursimar Badwal went through the first round without a single birdie, carding 74 each to be tied-8th alongside Mehar Atwal.
Neha opened with a bogey, but birdies on third and sixth saw her get to under par, before a bogey on par-5 ninth brought her down to even.
On the back nine, she birdied 10th and then found birdies on 14th, 16th and 18th, while dropping one shot on par-3 17th.
In the second round, Tvesa, Amandeep and Neha will go out in the final group, preceded by the two amateurs Sifat, Ridhima and professional Gaurika.
In the morning, Hita Prakash and Priya Puri, paired in a two-ball, go out first followed by Komal Chaudhary, Millie Saroha and Tavleen Batra.
The third group sees Sonam Chugh, Ayesha Kapur and Siddhi Kapoor while the fourth has Afshan Fatima, amateur Tanirika Singh and Suchitra Ramesh.
Khushi Khanijau, Smriti Mehra and Vani Kapoor constitute the fifth group followed by Gursimar Badwal, Mehar Atwal and Trisha Sunil in group six, just before the last two lead groups.
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
