Joshi best Indian at seventh, Mamat in lead

A three-under 68 on the wings of a late eagle saw Khalin Joshi take over as the top Indian in the inaugural Bashundhara Bangladesh Open, here today.
Joshi, who shot even par 71 in first round is now three-under 139 for two rounds and in tied seventh place.
Joshi is six shots behind Mardan Mamat of Singapore who held his nerve in his closing four holes to return with a four-under-par 67 and seize the second round clubhouse lead.
Himmat Rai, who has been struggling with his form, added a three-under 68 to his first round 73 to make the cut comfortably in tied 14th place. Also in 14th place were Chiragh Kumar (72-69) and Amardip Malik (67-74). Malik had a tough time with two bogeys, a double bogey and just one birdie.

Also sure to make the cut were Ajeetesh Sandhu (69-73), Sujjan Singh (68-74) and Om Prakash Chouhan (69-73) were tied 25th at even par 142 while M Dharma (69-74) was tied 35th. Rahil Gangjee (74-70), Sanjay Kumar (68-76) were also sure to make the cut. Abhinav Lohan, Angad Cheema, Shubhankar Sharma and S Chikkarangappa are tied 55th.
Rashid Khan (74-72) is in danger of missing the cut. Mamat, the four-time Asian Tour winner produced six birdies against two late dropped shots for a nine-under-par 133 total to hold a one-shot advantage over Carlos Pigem of Spain, who also shot a 67 at the Kurmitola Golf Club.

Thailand's Panuphol Pittayarat charged into contention with a fine 66 while little known Dulal Hossain, a former ball boy at Kurmitola, shot a sparkling 63 to trail Mardan by three shots at the 300,000 US Dollars Asian Tour event.