Delhi's Manu Gandas shot a 1-under par 70 to establish a three-shot lead even as overnight leader Arjun Puri slipped to tied-third position at the end of the half-way stage of the IGU Western India Juniors being played at the Par-71 Poona Club Golf Course here today.
Manu who had opened with a level par round of 71, made just a solitary mistake today in compiling a 1-under 70 to be perched at the top of the leaderboard in the top category (A & B combined).
Feroz Singh Garewal was second at 144 while Pukhraj Singh Gill was tied for third along with Arjun at 145. Kartik Sharma was in fifth place at 147 while Tapendra Ghai and Rohan Dhole Patil occupied the sixth and seventh place with scores of 147 and 150 respectively.
Arjun Puri had the distinction of leading in his category (Cat B) with Kartik Sharma in the second place. Bhav Sharma was third at 154 while Karandeep Kochar was fourth at 160. Shreays Chandra was fifth at 163.
Manu who started off early in the day, made the lone mistake on the par-3 second where he lost a shot. However, he nullified the mistake on the next par-3 hole, the fourth, where he ended up with a birdie. Playing some good golf, Manu managed to avoid the bogeys and in fact missed a couple of birdie chances. Parring his way until the penultimate hole, the 17-year-old signed off with a birdie which gave him a three-shot cushion going into the third round.
"The course is playing really well. I missed a couple of easy chances to make birdies. However I am happy to stay away from trouble," said the leader. "I hope to build on the lead and emerge victorious," he added.
Top scores after 36 holes
Category A & B: 141 Manu Gandas (71, 70); 144 Feroz Singh Garewal (75, 69); 145 Pukhraj Singh Gill (71, 74), Arjun Puri (Cat B) (69, 76); 147 Kartik Sharma (Cat B) (76, 71); 147 Tapendra Ghai (73, 74); 150 Rohan Dhole Patil (72, 78); 151 Kartikey Vashist (75, 76); 153 Shubham Narain (78, 75); 154 Bhav Sharma (Cat B) (78, 76); 155 Prakhar Asawa (79, 76), Piyush Sangwan (78, 77)
Category B: 145 Arjun Puri (69, 76); 147 Kartik Sharma (76, 71); 154 Bhav Sharma (78, 76); 160 Karandeep Kochar (81, 79); 163 Shreyas Chandra (78, 85); 164 Saarthak Chhibber (82, 82); 165 Kartik Digvijay Singh (88, 77), Arjun Prasad (81, 84); 167 Adilbir Singh (91, 76).
