JOIN USRohana remains in charge
The 38-year-old Sri Lankan, whose best so far has been two runner-up finishes at his favourite Panchkula course, matched his opening-round heroics with a masterful four-under 68 to total 136 and race six shots clear of a jam-packed leaderboard that was breathing down his throat at the start of the day.
Multiple Order of Merit winner and veteran Mukesh Kumar, still struggling with his short game, managed to card a two-under 70 to lie second, while defending champion Ashok Kumar bounced back with a superb 69 to share the third spot with local lad Abhishek Jha (71) and Ajeestesh Sandhu (72) at 143.
Although a galaxy of Indian golfing stars are missing in action, the day kick-started with plenty of promise with 20 players within four shots of Rohana. While most them came unstuck on the lightning quick greens that have proved a nightmare for many golfers in the past, Rohana was in his elements, driving, hitting and putting like a dream.
Brilliant from tee to pin, the seasoned campaigner never veered off trajectory, remarkably finding fairways on all occasions. He hit the bunker only once -- on the fifth -- but was superb with his approach shots again, often landing within 10 feet of the cup. The only concern during an otherwise impressive outing for the Lankan were three missed putts from within eight feet that would have seen him open up an even bigger lead.
“I am really happy with the way I played today,” said Rohana. “However, it’s just half the job done and I am eager to complete it.”
A 10th-tee starter, Rohana kicked off in promising fashion, picking up a stroke on the par-5 11th. He sunk a superb 20-footer birdie on the 13th before dropping a stroke on the 16th, three-putting from 20 feet. Two 10-foot putts -- on the second and eighth -- earned him a birdie each and he polished off a great day in the office with a four-foot birdie on the closing ninth.
Mukesh conjured all his experience to climb up the ladder. He fired six birdies but two bogeys and a double bogey on the 16th ruined his card. The biggest fireworks of the day were provided by the home-grown Rahul Ganapathy, who shot a rare albatross on the par-5 11th.
Leading scores (after 36 holes, ‘A’ denotes amateur): 136: Anura Rohana (68, 68); 142: Mukesh Kumar (72, 70); 143: Ashok Kumar (74, 69), Ajeetesh Sandhu (71, 72), Abhishek Jha (72, 71); 144: Pappan (73, 71), M Dharma (73, 71), Gurbaaz PS Mann (71, 73), Rashid Khan (75, 69), Om Prakash Chouhan (73, 71), Raju Ali Mollah (70, 74), Mardip Sinh Malik (74, 70), BG Lalith Kumara (73, 71); 145: Feroz Ali Mollah (77, 68), Khalin Joshi (‘A’) (72, 73), Harmeet Kahlon (73, 72), Toran Bikram Sahi (76, 69), Sandeep Syal (71, 74), Mithun Perera (76, 69), Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (69, 76).