Such was his form today that he stood a clear seven strokes ahead of his nearest compatriots-- Mumbai's Sunder Singh and Ashok Kumar of Delhi-- both carding a five over 75 round.

Defending champion Shiv Kapur slid down the standings with a nine over par round and has a mammoth task cut out for him.

Mumbai's Amit Nigam -- winner in the amateur group at the just concluded Mahindra Invitational and Mahindra Open -- ended the first day with a six-over par 76 round.

Syal had a heady start and finish today, firing birdies on the par-five first and 18th. In between he also birdied the third even as he dropped shots on the second, 16th and 17th holes.

But the highlight of Syal's play today was an eagle on the 468-yard par-five fourth hole. He teed-off with a three-wood to reach the fifth fairway. An 8-iron over the trees saw himland at the edge of the greens from where he lob-wedged to see the ball bounce before rolling into the cup.

In the 13-14 age-group local lad Prince Dhillon led the pack with a round of 81. He had a better back nine (37) studded with birdies on the 10th and 16th. Delhi's Vikram Nadrajog (82) and Lakhan Singh (83) followed Dhillon.

A card of 86 put JS Dullet on top of the 11-12 age-group.

The prizes of the 72-hole strokeplay event is being sponsored by Classic Stripes.

LEADING SCORES (after 18 holes)

68: Sandeep Syal; 75: Sunder Singh, Ashok Kumar; 76: Amit Nigam, Sandy Lehal; 77: MD Wazik; 78: Sanjay Khan, Suleman Ali, Ranjit Singh; 79: Shiv Kapur, Vinod Kumar, Dayal Singh.

Age-group 13-14: 81: Prince Dhillon; 82: Vikram Nadrajog; 83: Lakhan Singh; 84: S Nagraj; 88: Arjunveer Singh; 89: Joseph Chakole, Shaswat Lal.

11-12: 86: JS Dullet; 87: Aditya Singh; 88: Dheeraj Sareen; 89: Sher Ali.

U-10: 85: Richard Hilton; 88: Varun Wadhwa.