Like Rashid, Mandeo Singh Pathania too maintained his second position after signing a card of five-under 67 to be 11-under 133 for the tournament. Sri Lankan Mithun Perera shot six birdies and an eagle for a 66 to be in third position at 10-under 134. Harendra Gupta added a 70 to his overnight 68 for a 36-hole total of 138 to be in the fourth position.[break]
On his part, the Nepalese pro Shiva Ram Shrestha shot a two-under 70 to be 5-under 139 for 36 holes and was in the fifth position, seven shots behind the leader. The top ranked player in the tournament Sanjay Kumar was in the sixth position with a total of 140. Bangladesh´s Mohd Sayum fired five birdies and an eagle to card the best round of the day to be in the seventh position at 141.
As many as 53 professionals and two amateurs including 17 Nepalese players made it to the money-making rounds after the cut was applied at 7-over 151.
Rashid, beginning from the 10th, made a sedate start on his front nine after being level par for the first eight holes courtesy a birdie on the par-5 12th and a bogey on the par-3 16th.
“It is difficult to concentrate on the game because of other attractions Nepal has to offer,” admitted Rashid who got a wake-up call soon after the blunder. Making back to back birdies on the 1st and 18th, Rashid made three more birdies on alternate holes beginning from the third to sign a card of 67.
“Today I wavered a bit in my driving but just about managed to save pars, especially on the front nine,” said the 20-year-old Rashid who hit 15 greens today against 18 yesterday. “He is like a machine and plays a good game,” admitted Shrestha about his opponent´s game.
Mandeo Pathania repeated his feat of scoring five-under for the first nine of the course while opening with a hat-trick of birdies and adding two more on the fifth and seventh. Two birdies and an equal number of bogeys saw the 28-year-old finishing just a stroke behind the leader.
Meanwhile, Mithun Perera recovered from an ominous start when he opened with a bogey.
However, he resurrected his round with three birdies on his front nine before making a bogey on the 11th. Ending his miseries, the stocky golfer made an eagle on the 12th while saving three more strokes on the 13th, 15th and 17th. With the players bundled together with just a stroke separating between the top players, it would be an exciting affair to watch the next round.
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