Braveheart Himmat grabs sole lead

Himmat Rai, who had played only nine holes on the first day, completed his first round in a stunning eight-under 64 and then added a five-under 67 to go into sole lead even at 11-under, even as the second round was yet to be completed.

He was one shot clear of the tournament marquee name KJ Choi (68, 64), who shared the second spot with Darren Beck (68, 64). The 22-year-old, who only had 30 minutes to rest after completing his first round, was in superb form as he posted a five-under-par 67 for a two-day total of 13-under-par 131 at the $1 million full field Asian Tour tournament.

Inclement weather continued to affect play throughout the two rounds, leaving officials no choice but to reduce the tournament to a 54-hole tournament. Round two will resume on Saturday morning with 24 players yet to complete their second round. Rai, looking for his maiden win on the Asian Tour, fired a remarkable eagle on his second hole when his chip found the hole from 10 yards. He posted four more birdies against one bogey before taking a one-stroke lead.

Ashok Kumar (70, 69) was tied 12th and Jyoti Randhawa (71, 69) was tied 17th. Anirban Lahiri was five-under after being two-under through 15 holes in second round.
Bhullar and Rahil Gangjee were yet to begin their second round after first-round 69s. Indian Open winner C Muniyappa was tied 28th with rounds of 70 and 71.

SSP Chowrasia (70) and Digvijay Singh (71) were yet to begin their second round, while Manav Jaini was even after 15 holes in the second round, Arjun Singh (72, 73) was tied 102nd and Gaurav Ghei (74, 72) tied 111th.

Rahul Ganapathy and Vikrant Chopra had played just three and four holes in the second round after first rounds of 76 and 75, and Karanjit Sandhu retired after a first-round 76.