Local golfers Khalin Joshi and S Chikkrangappa brought home cards of 67 and 68 respectively in the second round to stay in contention at the TAKE Solutions Masters golf here today.
Thailand's Poom Saksansin, who had just one birdie in first nine holes, turned on the gas on the back nine and finished at four-under 67 to take his lead to four shots after two rounds.
Poom with 64 and 67 was 11-under 131 and four shots ahead of Joshi, who brought home 68 and 67 in the first two rounds to be seven-under.
One shot behind Khalin was a five-man group, including Chikkarangappa (68-68), who has won both amateur and pro events on PGTI Tour at KGA.
Tied with him at six-under were Rahil Gangjee (70-66) and Viraj Madappa (66-70), both of whom have moved from Kolkata to Bengaluru, and Sujjan Singh (67-69) and Indonesian Rory Hie (69-67).
Chikka shot 68 despite finding just four fairways the whole day.
The Top-10 includes Divyanshu Bajaj (66-71) and local lad Syed Saqib Ahmed (67-70) alongwith Malaysian Danny Chia.
There were 21 Indians among the 31 players, who were one-under or better and the Top-10 had seven Indians as the cut fell at three-over.
Among some of the big names not too far behind on this challenging course are Jyoti Randhawa (69-69) and SSP Chawrasia (69-70) and youngster Shubhankar Sharma (74-66).
Some big names who missed the cut included Rashid Khan (72-76), Mardan Mamat (75-73), C Muniyappa (69-80) and Jeev Milkha Singh (79-73).
Joshi said, "It's nice to be in this position halfway through the week. I feel I've done well so far in the tough conditions as the wind has been swirling and the rough is up.
"I excelled with my wedges today setting up tap-in birdies on three occasions. However, I left some birdies out there as my driving and putting were not up to the mark. I'll be working on those two aspects at the range today.
Chikka said, "It's been a rollercoaster round. I started well and was under control till the eagle on the 11th where I holed it from 50 feet. But then there were a few setbacks with a three-putt for double-bogey on the 14th and another dropped shot on the 17th.
"I struggled with my tee shots today, making just four fairways in the whole round. I haven't visited as many trees at the KGA as I did today. I haven't played here with this kind of wind, a side wind on many holes."
Leader Poom, happy to be back after an injury, said, "It was very windy today. It was difficult because the wind changed directions. I didn't hit straight drives because of the wind. On this golf course, you need to hit good drives to have a birdie chance.
"This golf course is not long so if I hit a good tee shot, I can attack the greens with a short iron. I don't know why I'm playing so well. I feel that I'm lucky. I guess I've avoided the big mistakes. I just keep it simple.
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