Abhijit Singh Chadha is halfway leader at TATA Open golf

Chandigarh's Abhijit Singh turned in a flawless seven-under 64 to emerge as the leader after the second round of the 16th TATA Open golf tournament here today.

Abhijit now totals 13-under-129 at the Rs. 1 crore event.

Sri Lankan Anura Rohana produced the best round of the tournament so far, a staggering 10-under-61, to move into tied second at 12-under-130 along with three-time former champion Mukesh Kumar (65) of Mhow.

Chadha (65-64), lying overnight tied fourth at the scenic Golmuri Golf Course, earned his place on top of the leaderboard after a sizzling round that featured three birdies on the back-nine and four more on the front-nine.
 

The 26-year-old Chadha, a two-time winner on the PGTI, made some quality chip-putts on the back-nine and followed that up with a couple of long conversions on the front-nine.

Abhijit, a member of the Indian team that won a silver medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, said, "My hitting was okay but I putted really well. I holed a number of putts which is not easy here because the greens are tricky.

"I'm 18th on the Order of Merit but feel I can make move up further with a strong finish to the year, especially after this round. Putting will be the key over the next two days since it's not a very long course."

Anura Rohana's (69-61) unbelievable 61 propelled him from overnight tied 43rd to tied second place. The seasoned 44- year-old, who won on the PGTI earlier this year, made a charge early in the day with birdies on the second, third and fourth.

Colombo-resident Anura picked up two more shots before the turn and followed that up with an eagle and four birdies on the back-nine. Rohana played some excellent approach and wedge shots to land it within five feet on seven occasions.

Mukesh Kumar shot a second straight 65 at his happy hunting ground to join Rohana in tied second place.

Kolkata's Raju Ali Mollah (65) was a further shot back in fourth place at 11-under-131.

Viraj Madappa of Kolkata, the round one leader, slipped to tied 23rd at six-under-136 after a round of 74 on Friday.

The cut was declared at two-under-140 with 59 players making it to the money rounds.

Pune's Aditya Bhandarkar missed the cut by two shots but made a hole-in-one on the seventh during his round of 73.

The Jamshedpur trio of professional Karan Taunk (four- over-146) and amateurs Navtez Singh (even-par-142) and Kurush Heerjee (five-over-147) missed the cut.