Shiv Prakash, looking for his fourth tournament title this year, had a steady front nine, playing to par on all nine holes. His back nine began not too encourangily, as he carded two consecutive bogies on the 11th and 12th. However, a birdie on the 14th, followed by another one on his last hole, saw him finish the day at a score of level par.

``My chipping and putting were atrocious today,'' said the Kanpur pro. ``Over and abvoe that, I suffered from heat exhaustion and felt pretty weak althrough,'' he added. Shiv Prakash's undoing was a weak second shot on the 11th, where his ball faded into the right bunker. Despite playing to par Prakash failed to regain his touch after that.

Leader of the Order of Merit, Vijay Kumar began well with a fine birdie on his first hole. A bogie on the 7th, saw him finish his outward journey at levelpar. A slightly more eventful return journey, saw him card two birdies on the 14th and 18th, preceded by a long bogie on the 11th.

``My putting was on vacation today,'' smiled the Lucknow pro.

Shamim Khan was leading through most of the day's play. A bogey on the final hole pushed him to his new spot of number three. With not too enocurging a start bringing him a bogey on the 2nd, consecutive birdies on the 4th, where he chipped in a remarkable 20-footer on the 5th, saw him finish his front nine at one under. A bad tee shot on the 13th, resulted in a bogey, and the 14th hole for some reason left him exhausted and feeling too weak to grip the club well.

The best cards of the day were turned in a by Mukesh Kumar an Sanjay Kumar, who each turned in a card of three udner 69. Sanjay Kumar, winner of the Colour Plus Open, Chennai, had birdies on the 1st and 5th holes and an eagle on the 8th. The good work was undone to an extent with consecutive bogies on the 14th and 15th. Two birides on the 16th and 17th and an unfortuante bogey on the 18th, adormed his end of the day's card. Mukesh Kumar, the Mhow pro, alternated between birdies and bogies before making the cut, as he birdied the 2nd, 5th and 8th while bogeying the 3rd and 7th. Two birdies on his 13th and 18th holes fetched him the joint best card of the day.

Talwar grabs lead: Sanjay Talwar, led the amateurs field with an aggregate score of 234, carding a five over 77 for the day. Overnight leader Kapil Dev, with an eight over 80, was placed one stroke behind at 235. The third spot was ocupied by Sanjay Kumar who was placed at 25, 10 strokes behind the second spot. Karan Atwal withdrew due to an injury.