Bhullar grabs lead at Northern India Amateur

Gurgaon, July 27 (UNI) Gaganjeet Bhullar carded a second round of two-under 70 to assume sole lead at the Royal Challenge Northern India Amateur Golf Championship played at the par-72 Clasic Golf Resort here today.

Bhullar's tournament tally stands at four-under 140. The tournament forms the first leg of the 2006-07 Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour.

Manav Jaini fired the day's best round of three-under 69 to occupy the second position with a two-day tally of 141. Overnight joint leader Gagan Verma fired a round of 72 to occupy the third place at 142, while Himmat Rai returned a card of one-under 71 to occupy fourth place with a tally of 143.

The cut was applied at 17 over 161, with only 41 players making it for the final round.

A tenth-tee starter, Bhullar played a perfect round of golf.

After a series of pars, Bhullar made a birdie on the par-5 14th to turn at one-under.

On his return journey, Bhullar started with a bogey on the first hole, but signed off with birdies on the par-4 third and par-5 ninth.

''I attacked the pin on a consistent basis. The greens were slightly on a slower side but I putted well today,'' said the leader.

Jaini began really well and by the half-way stage had two birdies under his belt, these coming on the third and the ninth. A bogey on the seventh was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect day for Jaini who then signed off with three birdies on the 15th, 16th and the 18th.

SCORES (after 36 holes): 140 Gaganjeet Bhullar(70,70); 141 Manav Jaini (72,69); 142 Gagan Verma (70,72); 143 Himmat Rai (72,71), 144 Gaurav Pratap (71, 73); 145 Abhishek Jha (73, 72); 146 Chirag Kumar (74, 70), Saurav Bahuguna (71, 75), Bhawani Singh Parmar (71, 75), Moin Malak (74, 72); 147 Balwinder Singh Mattu (74, 73); 148 Jasjeet Singh (71, 77), Vikram Rana (74, 74) UNI DH AY KN1920