Bangalore’s Trishul Chinappa put on a good show as he played a second straight round of one-under 71 to take the lead in the midway stage of the IGU-sanctioned Northern India Amateur Championships at the par-72 Golden Greens on Wednesday.
Chinappa, who opened with a bogey, had three other birdies and one more bogey in his card of 71.
Chinappa is now the only player below par for 36 holes. He is now three shots ahead of fellow Bangalorean S Chikkrangappa who recovered from his first round 74 with a 71, one of the only three sub-par rounds of the day.
Sharing the second place with Chikka was Arshad Ali (72) at 145. Meanwhile, Khalin Joshi and Harimohan Singh, who were tied second after first round, slipped to tied fourth with rounds of 76 each.
Overnight leader Arjun Sharma who shot a stunning 68 in first round had a nightmare in the second round at 79 and was tied sixth with Kunaal Bhatia (76-71) and Syed Saqib Ahmed (71-76). Gagan Verma (76-73), finalist at All India Matchplay last month, was tied ninth with Sidharth Semwal (76-73) at 149.
Cheema tied 13th
Angad Cheema was tied 13th place at the end of the first round of the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at the Faldo Course at Mission Hills Golf Club in China.
Cheema, who won the All India Matchplay championships in January, shot three-over 75.
Cheema, who won the Indian National championships this year, was seven shots behind Masamichi Ito of Japan who carded four-under-par 68.
Vashistha Pawar was tied 37th with a round of 81 and Ankur Chadha carded 84. Aditi Ashok was the best Indian among girls at 84 and Gursimar Badwal shot 89.
Sandhu shines
Ajeetesh Sandhu, playing in only his third professional event outside India, carded a fine three-under 69 with four birdies and one bogey to finish the first day at the inaugural Handa Faldo Cambodian Classic in tied 10th place in Siem Reap. He was the best-placed Indian on the day.
The only other Indian to shoot an under-par round came from veteran Feroze Ali (71), who played steady with one bogey on the first and two other birdies. The other Indians disappointed with Shiv Kapur (74) in tied 84th place, Himmat Rai (75) in 91st place and Sujjan Singh (78) in tied 126th place.
Sandhu, who was third at the SAIL Open in 2011 for his best finish on Asian Tour, was three shots behind Korea’s Baek Seuk-hyun who established a new course record of six-under-par 66 to open up a one-shot lead after the opening round.
Pallavi in front
Pallavi Jain, who is yet to taste victory on the Hero WGAI Professional Golf Tour, took a three-shot lead in the 13th leg of the Tour at the Willingdon Golf Club in Mumbai.
Pallavi shot a card a 63 on the short par-65 course.
Following her was Saaniya Sharma, whose lone win this year came in the fourth leg, shot one over 66.
Nalini Singh Siwach, who has three titles in the current season, shot 68, after crumbling on the last stretch with four bogeys in last five holes.
