By IANS
Mumbai : The frail-looking Rashid Khan, fresh from his win at the Faldo Series Asia finals looks set for another big win, as he took a commanding 12-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Sunfeast Western India Junior golf championship at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Club here Wednesday.
Smashing the ball 250 yards and more, the 16-year-old Delhi lad shot an error-free five-under 65 to take a 12-stroke lead. Khan’s two-day total now stands at 11-under 129, his career best for two days.
Amanjyot Singh who shot a one-over 71 is placed second with 141 while Vicky Sharma is sole third at three-over 143. As many as four players — Rommel Majumdar, Rahul Bakshi, Abhijit Chadha and Kapil Kumar — were tied for the fourth place at 148.
Meanwhile, Chikkarangappa was leading in category B with a total of 141 and stood second overall with Amanjyot. Rahul Ravi topped the leaderboard in category C while Zachary Yusuf and Vidit Singh were tied for lead in Category D.
Khan continued with his ball striking ability. Flirting with birdies on the first five holes, the Delhi lad finally managed to make one on the sixth. On the tough par-4 ninth, Rashid after hitting it just short of the green tried to get the ball closer to the hole. Instead he holed it for a birdie.
His birdie splurge continued even on the back nine when he made a birdie on the 10th with a deft tee shot that left him four feet from the pin. Two more birdies on the 14th and 16th respectively saw Rashid finish with a 65.
“I was not really bothered about the lead. I was just having fun on the course,” said Rashid who missed just four greens in regulation.
“I have tried to hone my skills playing with professionals. During the practice rounds, I actually compete with them,” said Rashid who plays alongside the likes of top pros of the country-Ashok Kumar and Vinod Kumar.
Incidentally Rashid had won the crown in the Amateur Category of the Indian Open, an event on the Asian Tour.
Leading scores (after 36 holes):
Category A: 129 Rashid Khan (64, 65); 141 Amanjyot Singh (70, 71); 143 Vicky Sharma (69, 74); 148 Rommel Majumdar (72, 76), Rahul Bakshi (74, 74), Abhijit S Chadha (74, 74), Kapil Kumar (75, 73); 149 Wasim Khan (75, 74), 152 Aman Guron (76, 76), Khalin Joshi (76, 76); 154 Romrio James (76, 78); 155 Kanishk Madan (78, 77), Angad Cheema (73, 82).
Category B: 141 Chikkarangappa (72, 69); 148 Ashbeer Saini (74, 74); 153 Hemendra Choudhary (77, 76); 161 Karamjot Dhindsa (79, 82)
Category C: 158 Rahul Ravi(79, 79); 163 Abhishek Kuhar (80, 83), Rohan Sharma (83, 80); 164 Varun Verma (83, 81), Honey Baisoya (84, 80)
Category D (18 holes): 77 Zachary Yusuf, Vidit Singh; 80 Feroz Garewal; 82 Piyush Sangwan; 83 Prakhar Aswa.