Anirban Lahiri continued his fine run and posted a fighting two-under-70 today to stay two-strokes ahead of the rest of the field at PGTI Ahmedabad Masters here.
Lahiri is now leading the rest of the field with a score of 10-under-134. Faridabad's Abhinav Lohan was placed second at eight-under-136 after he returned a brilliant 68 on day two.
The cut fell at seven-over-151. Fifty-five professionals and three amateurs made the cut.
Lahiri (64-70), the overnight leader by two shots, had a mixed first-nine as he picked up four birdies but also dropped a triple-bogey on the 14th.
Lahiri, a 10th tee starter today, was off to a flying start with birdies on the 12th and 13th but then found the water twice and three-putted to drop a triple-bogey on the 14th.
He came back well with two long birdie putts on the 15th and 16th.
Lahiri started his second-nine with a bogey on the first but recovered once again courtesy an eagle on the par-5 fifth where his second shot landed three feet from the flag. He made bogey-birdie on the seventh and eighth to end up with a brave 70 in round two.
"I had some flashes of brilliance today but also made some unnecessary errors. I tried a bit too much with my drive into the wind on the 14th and that led to a terrible swing which resulted in the ball landing in the water. However, I was happy with my good temperament that helped me come back well with birdies on the next two holes.
"I couldn't recover from a bad lie on the first hole and that led to a bogey which disturbed my momentum. But the eagle on the fifth came at the right time for me and got me back in the right frame of mind. I was quite pleased with my ability to bounce back today. That was one positive aspect that I'll take forward from round two," he said.
Abhinav Lohan (68-68), who was overnight joint sixth, didn't have a great start to the day as he bogeyed the first hole where he failed to get out of the bunker in the first attempt. The 25-year-old rallied with birdies on the seventh and eighth but he was back to one-under for the day after dropping shots on the ninth and 10th.
Abhinav, a part of the Indian quartet that won the team silver medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, had a much better back-nine. He converted putts from 10 to 15 feet for birdies on the 12th and 14th. Lohan signed off in style with birdies on the last three holes that featured a chip-in on the 16th and a 20-feet putt on the 17th.
