Last year's losing finalist, Chandigarh's Amritinder Singh, was not as lucky and was outplayed by SSP Chowrasia. The other seeded player to accompany him on the way out was 10th seed Rafiq Ali, who was upstaged by the unheralded Bunty Randhawa.

Bhalotia, whose performance this season has been far from healthy, thanks to a swing change he is working on, managed to build on his lead. And at four-up after 14 holes, many predicted him a smooth passage.

But after steady golf for most part of the day, a string of bogeys caught up with Bhalotia, including a double bogey on the `tricky' par-three 17th.

With Sekhon levelling scores on the last, Bhalotia was in deep trouble. ``I told Sekhon I am out of here,'' said the defending champlater in the evening. And with his second shot hitting the trees it looked like curtains for him. But Bhalotia struck a good approach shot and followed it with a six feet putt for birdie even as Sekhon parred.

Lady luck continued to smile on him after the match. With his second round opponent Dinesh Kumar withdrawing from the tournament, Bhalotia gets a direct entry into the third round.

Amritinder, winner of the Chandigarh Open, looked very much out of sorts even as Chowrasia played some tremendous golf to end the match after 14 holes. The Calcutta youngster has shown much promise on this season's Wills Sport Golf Tour and this could very well be his event.

The battle between Rafiq and Bunty Randhawa was full of drama with as many as nine birdies scored. The latter clinched the issue, leading by two strokes on the 17th.

Among other notables to advance were Vijay Kumar and reigning Indian Open champion Feroz Ali who edged local pro Manohar Dike on the final hole.

WHOM THE SEEDS PLAY (secondround): 1 Vijay Kumar vs Bhoop Singh, 2 Shiv Prakash vs P Kubde, 3-Ali Sher vs Vikramjit Singh, 4-Basad Ali vs Akbar Ali, 5-Mukesh Kumar vs RS Thapa, 6-Feroz Ali vs Jumman, 7-Sanjay Kumar vs Mohd Khokan

RESULTS (First Round)

1-Vijay Kumar bt Mohd Maqbool 3/2, Bhoop Singh bt Nabin Mandal 7/5, 16-Devendra Patel bt Raja Ali 5/3, Pappan bt Jagdish Angre 3/1, 8-Indrajit Bhalotia bt KPS Sekhon 19th hole, Dinesh Kumar bt SK Patal 4/3, 9-Uttam Singh Mundy bt Asgar Ali 2/1, Gast Ram bt DK Verma 3/2, Basad Ali bt GS Sethi 5/4, Akbar Ali bt Karan Bindra 3/2, 13-Yusuf Ali bt Mohd Islam 5/3, Anil Smantha bt Hari Ram 1 up, 5-Mukesh Kumar bt Rajesh Rawat 5/3, RS Thapa bt Mohar Singh 3/2, 12-Vishal Singh bt Mohd Yamin 7/5, Chini Ali bt Rahul Raj 4/3, Shiv Prakash bt Dinesh Raghuvanshi 4/2, Prakash Kubde bt KS Sibia 19th, 15-Rohtas Singh bt Raj Kumar Rawat 5/3, Rejwan Ali bt Mohd Nawab 6/5, 7-Sanjay Kumar bt Shamim Khan 19th, Mohd Khokan bt Suresh Chand 3/1, Bunty Randhawa bt 10-Rafiq Ali 2/1, Mohd Salim btHemchand 1 up, 3-Ali Sher bt Santosh Kumar 5/4, Vikramjit Singh bt Ajay Kumar Yadav 2/1, 14-Amandeep Johl bt Rajesh Choudhary 3/2, Binod Pandey bt Rakesh Kumar 2/1, 6-Feroz Ali bt Manohar Dike 1 up, Jumman bt Toran Shahi 5/4, SSP Chowrasia bt 11-Amritinder Singh 6/4, Ranjit Singh bt Ganesh Madchal 4/3.

(prefix denote seedings)