Rashid hangs onto sole lead

The cut was declared at four-over-148. Fifty-two professionals made the cut. Rashid Khan (66-71) managed to hang on to his overnight lead after posting four birdies and three bogeys in round two. Khan had a slow start to the day as he made pars on the first six holes and bogeyed the seventh after finding the hazard. He got back to level-par for the day, thanks to a fine approach shot on the ninth that set up a seven feet birdie putt.

Rashid then made three-putts on the 10th and 11th to drop bogeys on both the holes. The 21-year-old from the Delhi Golf Club made three birdies on the next five holes to end the day at one-under. His last birdie of the day was a result of a chip-in on the 16th hole. "I did not putt well today. I couldn't convert my opportunities on the greens unlike round one. I lost my way in the middle stages of the round with those two three-putts. However, I managed to comeback well after that to close the day with an under-par score," said Rashid.

Abhinav Lohan (73-65) followed up his first round effort of 73 with a contrasting 65 in round two to climb from overnight tied 36th to tied second place. Lohan, a 10th tee starter, picked up birdies on the 12th and 14th, both par-5 holes, to make early inroads today. He landed his third shot from 65 yards to within four feet of the flag on the 12th.

Lohan had a very fruitful front-nine as he sank a 20-footer for birdie on the first and followed that up with a chip-in for birdie on the second. Two conversions from 10 feet gave him birdies on the fourth and seventh. The 22-year-old's second shot on the ninth stopped three feet from the pin and led to a birdie that helped him shoot a 65, the best score of the tournament so far. "I converted all my chances today and hit it close with the wedges especially on the short par-4s and the par-5s. The putter was hot as I managed to hole some long putts. I did not make any errors unlike round one," said Lohan, who along with Rashid Khan, was a member of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

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