17 April 2019: A measured effort from Shamim Khan and a resilient one from C Muniyappa helped the two men take the top spot at the halfway stage of the Delhi-NCR Open Golf Championship on the Noida Golf Course. Shamim played the only bogey-free round on a day when most golfers struggled with the pin positions. He made a fine 66 with three birdies on each nine to go 9-under 135 into the weekend. Muniyappa is right with him after posting a 69 on Wednesday.
With scores of 67 and 69, S Chikkarangappa was one stroke behind the two leaders.
First-round leader Shankar Das, who made an elegant 65 on Tuesday, wasn’t as fluent in the second round. He shot a 73 to slip into fourth place at 6-under 138.
With scores of 70 and 69, Shivendra Singh Sisodia and Aadil Bedi were tied in fifth with Md. Zamal Hossain Mollah. Rashid Khan, Mukesh Kumar and Angad Cheema rounded off the top ten after the second round the of Tata Steel PGTI Tour’s last event before the summer break.
Rashid shot an eagle at the 14th in a 69 that put him together with Mukesh and Cheema, who both settled for 73 on their cards.
On a day of several high scores, Arjun Prasad, Kushal Singh, Md. Akbar Hossain, M Dharma and Kshitij Naveed Kaul can count themselves unlucky for missing out on the money rounds. The five men were on the wrong end of the knife at 3-over 147.
Udayan Mane and Viraj Madappa also missed the cut.
On a day when the top ten men combined for 27 bogeys, it was mighty impressive for Shamim to come off the course unscathed. The disciplined man has remained bogey-free for 30 holes, the only bogey so far came at the par-4 sixth hole during the first round.
Shamim got off the hot start, having made three birdies in the first four holes in the first round. And even though he was trailing by four at the end of the first day, his fluent golf ensured that he would sail all the way into the lead at the end of 36 holes.
The field now cotains 52 golfers. Khalin Joshi is lying at one over, with seven men surviving the cut by a whisker. Aman Raj, Anil Bajrang Mane, Karan Pratap Singh, Dipankar Kaushal, Mani Ram, Vijay Kumar and Yuvraj SIngh Sandhu were all came in on the edge at 2-over 146.
Karan and Vijay can be proud of a stellar second round 70 under trying circumstances.
