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Mukesh Kumar in the van

Chennai Aug. 21. Mukesh Kumar, a lanky pro from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, is an old hand on the golf courses of this city. He enjoys playing here and once he gets his nose ahead he can be tough to beat.

On Wednesday, in the second round of the Colorplus Open, Mukesh did get on top of the leaderboard with a three under 69 to go a stroke clear of the man he shared the lead with on the opening day.

Digvijay Singh from Meerut shot a two under 70 and has a two day aggregate of 137, one behind Mukesh. But there are quite a few players hovering not far behind and the tournament is far from over. The next two days should be rather interesting, to say the least.

Mukesh could have brought in a much better card if his short game had matched his play from the tee box and the fairway. But he missed quite a few putts that he would have loved to have made.

Mukesh shot birdies on the first, fourth, fifth and 16th holes, but lost a stroke on the 12th.``It is good to be in the lead but I am not really happy with my game today. I just couldn't get it right on the greens. I should improve my putting,'' said Mukesh.

Delhi player Shamim also brought in a three under 69 and is only a stroke behind the second placed Digvijay Singh. Five other players, Ranjit Singh, S.S.P. Chowrasia, Devendra Patel, D.S. Raghuvanshi and Binod Pandey had rounds of 69 too.

This, on a day when Vijay Kumar was denied the chance of a hat- trick of Tour wins this season as he was forced to withdraw because of an injury to his left thumb. Attempting to hit a ball from the edge of the fairway near the wall on the 18th, the former champion scraped his thumb on the wall and had to pull out.

Meanwhile, the cut was applied at six over 150 and 50 professionals made it to the second half of the event. Among the amateurs, Sandeep Syal continues to be in the lead after a second round 73 that gives him an aggregate of 144.

Leading pro scores: Mukesh Kumar 136 (67, 69); Digvijay Singh 137 (67, 70); Shamim Khan 138 (69, 69); Ranjit Singh 139 (70, 69); Shiv Prakash 139 (69, 70); S.S.P. Chowrasia 141 (72, 69); Bhoop Singh 141 (71, 70); Md. Islam 141 (71, 70); Ashok Kumar 141 (70, 71).

Amateurs: Sandeep Syal 144; L. Selvadurai 148; B. Gurunath 149.

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