India's S.S.P Chowrasia opened up a one-shot lead Friday over defending champion Siddikur Rahman at golf's Indian Open after a second round of 67 took him to 10 under for the tournament.
After being part of a five-strong overnight leaderboard, Chowrasia broke away from the pack by picking up another four strokes, including three birdies on the back nine at Delhi Golf Club.
Bangladesh's Rahman, who carded a three under par 68, has a three-shot lead over Swede Joakim Lagergren and Thailand's Chapchai Nirat at the halfway mark of the four-day contest in the Indian capital.
The performance of the day came from India's Anirban Lahiri who picked up four birdies on the back nine to card a six under round of 65, leaving him six strokes behind his compatriot Chowrasia.
Kolkata-born Chowrasia said it was the first time that he had not hit any bogeys on the first 36 holes of a tournament.
"I feel good and aggressive," Chowrasia said on the Asian Tour's website.
"I'm very happy because I saved a lot of pars. It wasn't easy to keep the bogeys away from my card. I had to make a lot of saves."
While Chowrasia managed to cut out the errors, Rahman blew the chance of taking the lead himself by double-bogeying the fourth hole.
"I was a little bit disappointed with my double bogey because I had a good number of birdies," said Rahman, who won the last edition of the tournament in 2013 but has been battling back trouble recently.
"I really enjoy playing here and I want to keep the same rhythm in the next two rounds," said the 30-year-old.
"I don't want to think about my back injury. I rather think about my win here in 2013."
Lahiri, who hails from the southern Indian city of Bangalore, said he felt confident about the business end of the tournament after some outstanding putting performance.
"I managed to get some rhythm on the greens and made some good putts," Lahiri said. "Now I'm in with a sniff."
The $1.5 million event is co-sanctioned by the Asian and European tours.
Source: AFP
