Macau: Jeev Milkha Singh carded a second successive 68 to put himself in the ideal position to make a charge over the weekend as he is placed tied fourth at the midway stage of the USD 750,000 Macau Open.
He is three behind the leader, Chan Yih-Shin of the Chinese Taipei who shot 67 to go with his first round 66 here at the lovely Macau Golf and Country Club.
The winner of the 2009 King's Cup in Thailand, Yih-Shin, who played in calmer conditions in the morning, shot a four-under 67 to go to nine-under and hold sole lead.
Lying in second spot was Finn Joonas Granberg, who equalled the course of 62, held by India's Amandeep Johl since 2004. Swede Rikard Karlberg, whose two Asian Tour wins have both come in India last year, shot 69 to sit at third place on 135.
Meanwhile, apart from Jeev, only two other Indians - Shiv Kapur (69-71) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (72-68) - both at two-under in tied 26th made the cut, while all others missed it. The cut came at one-over.
Kunal Bhasin, an Australian of Indian origin, who plays on the Indian Tour, shot a 69 to make the cut at one-under for 36 holes. He has had 11 birdies in two days but also given away nine bogeys and one double bogey.
Jeev, who is looking for his first win since 2008, looked completely relaxed as he carded a second successive 68 and was six-under for two days.
"I am enjoying myself," said Jeev, who is tied with Adam Groom (67-69) and Thai Thanyakon Khrongpha (70-66).
"I love coming back to the Asian Tour and with my family here, it has been excellent so far. And I think I am well placed right now," he added.
Notable among the Indians who missed the cut were Jyoti Randhawa (77-67), who despite a heroic 67 with five birdies fell short by one, while last week's winner Himmat Rai (70-75), couldn't hole a single birdie putt and ended with four bogeys to miss by two just as Anirban Lahiri (75-70) did.
SSP Chowrasia (72-78) despite two birdies in first three holes was still in with a good chance of making the weekend as he was only one-over through front nine. But he was six-over for back nine, including a quadruple on par-3 17th.
Others making an early exit were Sujjan Singh (74-71), who like Randhawa missed the cut by one, while Manav Jaini 73-73), Chiragh Kumar (75-72), Mandeo Pathania (74-76) and Vinod Kumar (76-78) missed it by some distance.
The cut came set at one-over-par 143 with 66 players making the halfway cut.
Overnight leaders - Anthony Kang of the United States and Englishman Nick Redfern - missed the weekend rounds as they shot matching 78s.
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