Viraj Madappa played steady golf in tough conditions over the back nine for an even par 71 to move into tied 13th at the midway stage of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup here Friday.
Madappa, 21, who won his maiden Asian Tour title last year at home in Bengaluru at Take Solutions Masters, was one of the only two Indians to make the cut.
Rahil Gangjee, winner of the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open in Japan last year, was the other one. Gangjee, who had a disappointing opening round of 76, fought back brilliantly for a bogey-free two-under 69 to make the cut at three-over. He was tied 33rd.
The weekend cut fell at four-over par with 60 players making it into the final two rounds.
The rest of the Indians, Khalin Joshi (73-74), Ajeetesh Sandhu (76-72), Shiv Kapur (77-72), Jeev Milkha Singh (77-75), amateur Anant Singh Ahlawat (81-79) missed the cut. S Chikkrangappa withdrew after the first round.
Madappa has been going through a rough patch missing seven cuts in nine starts in 2019, including two in his domestic tour in India and the Hero Indian Open.
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Madappa had one birdie against two bogeys on the back nine as he started from the 10th and then added a string of pars followed by a late birdie on eighth, his penultimate hole of the day.
Gangjee had one birdie on either side, on the second and the eighth and he is tied 33.
Micah Lauren Shin of the United States fired a sublime four-under-par 67 to take over the lead from Thailand's Danthai Boonma after the second round.
Shin was in his element as he marked his flawless card with four birdies for a two-day total of four-under-par 138 to take the second day's honours.
Boonma, who held the overnight lead, struggled to an outward 40. The Thai rallied back strongly with two birdies in his last two holes to sign for a 73 and moved into a share of second place with Australia's Brendan Jones, Japan's Tomoyo Ikemura and Korea's Y.E. Yang.
Jones has been playing regularly in Japan since 2001 and won his 15th title in Nagoya last month.