By IANS
Gurgaon : Talented Anirban Lahiri Thursday continued to lead after the second round of the Professional Golfers Tour of India (PGTI) Tour Qualifying School with a superb four under 68 here.
With this, Lahiri, who had carded one under 71 Wednesday, took his tally to 139 at the Golden Greens Golf and Country Club.
Ranjit Singh and Raj Randhawa were locked at the second place with a grand tally of 142 at the midway stage. While Ranjit played a fine three under 69 after his one over 73 Wednesday, Randhawa followed his par 72 with two under 70.
Jaideep Patwardhan (71) shared the fifth place with two Bangaldesh players, Matloob Ahmed Rana (73) and Mohammed Siddikur Rahman (74).
Balvinder Singh Mattu, second after first round, slipped to 13th after a second round of 76.
The cut came at 17-over 161 and 81 players remain in the field, as 40 cards will be available for the 2007-08 PGTI tour.
Prominent names missing the cut were K.P.S. Sekhon (80) and Toran Shahi (76) as they finished at 18-over 162.
Lahiri gave ample evidence of his state of readiness to move to the next stage of his golfing career. The 20-year-old player, who was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at 2006 Doha Asian Games, is now five-under 139 after 36 holes.
He is three shots clear of Ranjit and Randhawa.
Interestingly, Randhawa won the first Stage of Q-School and Ranjit won the second stage.
Feroze Ali, former Indian Open winner, who won the Proton Terengganu Masters last month, an event on the Malaysian domestic tour, added a second round 71 to his first round 74 and moved to fourth place.
Ali is playing in the Qualifying School, as he became a member of the PGTI only this year.
Lahiri played a flawless front nine with four birdies and then added one more on 11th, but he gave away his only bogey of the day on par-4 17th hole. Still it was a great round for the youngster, who plans to turn professional after playing the Nomura Cup in October.
Ranjit, son of 1982 Delhi Asian Games gold medallist 'Bunny' Laxman Singh, shot a brilliant 69. The highlight was an eagle on the closing hole par-5 18th. He also had four other birdies and three bogeys.
Raj Randhawa, nephew of Jyoti Randhawa, kept himself in the spotlight after topping the first stage, as he landed five birdies but also had three bogeys.
Leading scores (after Round II)
* 139: Anirban Lahiri (71-68)
* 142: Ranjit Singh (73-69) and Raj Randhawa (72-70)
* 145: Feroz Ali Mollah (74-71) 145
* 146: Jaideep Patwardhan (75-71), Matloob Ahmed Rana (Bangladesh, 73-73) and Mohammed Siddiqur Rahman (Bangladesh, 72-74)
* 147: Dinesh Kumar (75-72), Sheeraz Kalra (74-73), Davendra Patel (74-73), Maniram Sharma (73-74), Chia Hao Hsu (Tpe) (73-74)
* 148: Balvinder Singh Mattu (72-76)
* 149: Md Nawab (76-73), Craig Mclean (76-73), M. Dharma (73-76), Dayal Singh (73-76)