World No. 39 Anirban Lahiri put himself in perfect position to successfully defend his Venetian Macao Open title as he was one shot behind the leader at the halfway stage of the event after adding a four-under 67 to his first round 66 to get to nine-under 133.
Also at nine-under was Chiragh Kumar (67-66) as four players were tied for second.
The unheralded 23-year-old Chinese Taipei's Hung Chien-yao produced a scintillating seven-under-par 64 to snatch a one-shot halfway lead today at the Macau Golf and Country Club with a two-day total of 10-under-par 132.
Lahiri, who featured in the Presidents Cup last week, was amongst those bunched in tied second place following a 67 while others chasing Hung include Korea's Jeunghun Wang (68), Brazilian Adilson Da Silva (65) and Chiragh Kumar.
It was a good day for the Indians as Rahil Gangjee (67-68) and Rashid Khan (7-65) were tied for eighth at seven-under 132. Gaganjeet Bhullar (69-68) and Abhijit Chadha (67-70) were tied 14th and SSP Chawrasia (70-68) was tied 19th.
The other Indian making the cut was Jyoti Randhawa (69-73) as the cut fell at even par 142.
However, Shiv Kapur (73-70), S Chikka (73-71), Arjun Atwal (73-72), Manav Jaini (74-71), Himmat Rai (72-74), Kapil Kumar (69-79), Khalin Joshi (75-75), Shubhankar Sharma (75-76) and Angad Cheema (76-77) missed the cut.
World number 39 Lahiri grabbed an eagle, four birdies and gave away two bogeys to stay on track to successfully defend his title.
The Indian star was disappointed though to drop a shot at his last hole.
"It leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I hit a good drive and just got stuck in a terrible lie and it was a bad five," Lahiri said. "I think I played well, pretty similar to yesterday. But the couple of times I missed the fairway, I found some difficult lies in the rough."
A 4-iron approach from 241 yards out set him up for easy eagle and the current Order of Merit leader is hoping his putter will find its full range this weekend.
"Every time I hit it close, I didn't make a putt. I'm in a similar position again (as last year). Hopefully I don't make these silly mistakes," he said.
