Chowrasia tied sixth, Lahiri 16th at Philipines Open

Anirban Lahiri made a brilliant surge on the back nine to haul himself back into contention at the ICTSI Philippine Open with a fine round of three-under 69 to bring him to even par after 36 holes and a tied 16th place in the US$300,000 Asian Tour event.
But the best Indian continued to be SSP Chowrasia, who moved up from overnight 10th place to tied sixth place with another one-under 71 that puts him at two-under 142 for two rounds.
But the star of the day was Marcus Both of Australia, who rediscovered some of his old magic, when he charged into sole lead with a flawless six-under-par 66. The Australian is now at eight-under.

The highlight of Both's round was five birdies between 13th and 18th on the back nine of the course, but which was the first nine for him. Abhijit Chadha (75-72) was the only other Indian making the cut at three-over 147.
Sujjan Singh (75-75), Manav Jaini (71-77), Abhinav Lohan (78-72), Amardip Malik (79-73), Himmat Rai (77-78) and Digvijay Singh (80-76) missed the cut, which came at five-over 149.
Chowrasia played a steady round with just two birdies and one bogey, while Lahiri had a birdie and a bogey on front nine and then recovered with birdies on 11th, 13th and 17th to finish at 69.

Leader Both was followed by Korean's Chan Kim (67-72), while joint overnight leader Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh struggled to maintain his hot putting touch to card 73 and was at five-under 139 in third place, while Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand was a further shot back.

The towering Both, who started from the 10th tee, made four straight birdies from the 13th hole before chipping in from the greenside bunker on 18. He continued his hot run with another birdie on five to set the early pace.
The 34-year-old won his first Asian Tour title in his debut season in 2003 and added to that tally when he won the 2009 Cambodian Open. In his colourful career on the Asian Tour, Both has never finished outside the top-50 on the Asian Tour except in 2013 where he ended the season in 74th place.

EurAsia Cup hero Siddikur, a two-time Asian Tour winner, struggled with a cold putter after returning with one birdie against two bogeys, a contrasting round compared to his opening 66.