Indians struggle to master Chinese course; Ghei tied 55th

Sanya, China, Mar 16 (UNI) All the Indians in the fray had another forgettable day with only Gaurav Ghei looking set to avoid the cut midway into the one million dollar TCL Classic here today.

Although Ghei turned in a marginally improved three-under 69 performance compared to yesterday's two-under 70, he managed to climb only one place at tied 55th spot. He reeled off four birdies against a lone bogey.

Countrymate Shiv Kapur carded a decent four-under 68, thanks to an eagle on the 13th hole and four birdies but spoilt the show with two successive bogeys from the 10th hole to go up 30 palces at tied 78th spot in the leaderboard.

The only other Indian in contention, Amandeep Johl finished on even-par for the second successive time. His erratic outing was sprinkled with five birdies and an identical number of bogeys.

While Ghei has a total tally of five-under 139, Shiv is further back with three-under 141 and Johl is even worse off at uncomfortable even-par 144.

Both Amandeep Johl and Shiv Kapur will have to get their act together to avoid the cut tomorrow on the co-sanctioned Asian Tour and European Tour event at the Yalong Bay Golf Club.

Meanwhile, big-hitting Thai Chapchai Nirat continued from where he left yesterday as he bolted into a commanding six-shot lead over his nearest rivals (Five of them) and equalled Asian Tour's 36-hole record along the way.

UNI