Yashas, who is from JWGC, Mysore picked up birdies on third, fourth and sixth holes on the front nine. He had another birdie on the 13th. He also had bogeys on ninth and 12th and parred his last five holes at the scenic Shivalik Golf Course in Chandimandir near here.
Roshan Raj from Eagleton, Bengaluru was trailing in second place after shooting even par 72 along with local Hemant Kumar Yadav.
Roshan also had a good start with birdies on first and third and later had two more birdies on 11th and 13th. But his double bogeys on tenth and 18th spoilt the day. Hemant Yadav had three birdies and three bogeys.
S Sidhartha and Viraj Madappa shot 75 each to lie tied fourth.
Piyush Sangwan is leading the B category at three-over par 75 followed by Sachet Sharan Sund from Kapurtala at four-over 76. Sangwan had three birdies and five bogeys.
Kartik Digvjay Singh, Ritwik Jain and Adilbir Singh were tied third with rounds of 77 each.
A total of 72 players, with 36 in each Categories A and B, started off.