Simarjeet keeps slender lead intact

Chandigarh, Oct 18 (UNI) Simarjeet Singh of Oil India carded one over 73 to maintain one-stroke advantage atop the leader board after the mid-way stage of the LG Samarvir Sahi Amateur Golf Championship at the par-72 Chandigarh Golf Club, here today. Simarjeet's tally stands at 145.

Dipankar Kaushal of Noida returned the day's best card of level par 72 to occupy the second position at 146, while OiL India's HS Kang was three-stroke behind in third place at 149. Kang shot a 74 today.

Chandigarh 's Abhijeet Chadha and Delhi 's Karan Vasudeva were a further stroke behind in tied fourth place at 150. While Chadha shot 75, Vasudeva brought in a card of 74. Lt. Col Lakra shot a 76 for the sixth position at 152 while Aman Guron, Gagan Verma, Manav Das and Rahul Bajaj were in tied seventh place at 153.

The cut was applied at 18-over 162 with 40 golfers proceeding to the deciding rounds.

Simarjeet had birdies on the second and seventh as he turned at two under. However, on the back nine, he dropped shots on the 13th, 17th and 18th .

Dipankar had a nightmarish start with a double bogey on the first hole. However, he bounced back with birdies on the second and fourth. A bogey on the seventh saw him make the turn at one over. On the back nine, Dipankar caught fire with birdies on the 10 th, 11th and 13th but subsequently dropped shots on the 15th and 16th Kang caught fire with birdies on the opening two holes but dropped shots on the third, fourth and fifth to turn at one over. On the back nine, he bogeyed the 11th to end the day at 74.

Scores (After 36 holes): 145 Simarjeet Singh (72, 73); 146 Dipankar Kaushal (74, 72); 149 HS Kang (75, 74); 150 Abhijit Singh Chadha (75, 75), Karan Vasudeva (76, 74); 152 Lt. Col. SK Lakra ( 76, 76); 153 Aman Guron (78, 75), Gagan Verma (78, 75), Rahul Bajaj (78, 75), Manav Das (79, 74); 154 Ashbeer Saini (73, 81), Abhishek Jha (74, 80), Ram Pal (77, 77), Tarun Goghale (78, 76), Sanjeev Singh (79, 75), Lakhbir Lucky (80, 74),Vikram Rana (82, 72).

UNI