Gangjee tied second with Kahlon, Lahiri in King’s Cup

KHON KAEN - Rahil Gangjee and Harmeet Kahlon, both looking to add to their solitary victory on the Asian Tour, carded one of their best rounds so far to move into a tie for second place at the midway stage of the Kings Cup golf.

Both were tied at six-under 136 and with them the six-man bunch included Anirban Lahiri (72).

Kahlon shot 67, his best since the 66 at the Pertamina Indonesia Invitational in 2007, and Gangjee’s 64 was a course record at the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Club and his best since the 64 at the 2006 Brunei Open. The three Indians were one shot behind overnight leader Chan Yih-shin of Chinese Taipei, who kept his nose ahead despite a one-over 73.

Gaurav Ghei (72) looked set for the lead in the tournament when he went eight-under for the tournament as he was four-under through 12 holes. Then in the last six holes, he dropped four shots to finish at 72. Coupled with his 68 from first day, he was four-under and in tied 11th with Chinnaswamy Muniyappa (73) and four others.

Three other Indians Digvijay Singh (73) at one-under 135 in tied 32nd, Firoz Ali (74) and Manav Jaini (73) at two-over 138 in tied 50th place made the weekend cut. Himmat Rai (73), Baaz Mann and Vikrant Chopra (80) missed the cut.

Gangjee teed off from the tenth and birdied the 12th, 15th and 16th and capped the stretch with an eagle on 18th to turn in a stunning five-under 31. On the front nine of the course, Gangjee birdied the third, fourth and seventh to move to eight-under. He lapsed with a bogey on eighth, but quickly got the shot back with a birdie on ninth.

In the beginning it was stressful but later in the round, it became fun. After yesterdays first round, I was outside the cut line and I was so stressed out and hit it all over the place. Today was something else, everything clicked.

“Now, I am in a different kind of mode. I think I should be safe. It’s stressed me out enough. Now that Im in a good position, Ill try to finish it off, said Gangjee, who is ranked 63rd on the Order of Merit and needs to finish in the top-65 Sunday. Gangjee’s only top-10 this year came at the season-opening Asian Tour International

Kahlon, whose only two appearances on Asian Tour this season, have been at SAIL and Indian Open, has made no money on Asian Tour this season. The only way he can play next year without going to the Q-School will be to win this week.

I had a very good round as my putts were falling and I was able to read the greens very well. I have been playing well on the Indian circuit so Im not surprised to be doing good here, said Kahlon.

“I have been putting in more quality training. Every time I practise, I treat it like a real tournament and my ball striking has improved a lot because of that, said Kahlon.

Lahiri who had a 66 on the first day, struggled on the second. He double bogeyed the 12th after starting from 10th but got the two shots back with birdies on 15th and 18th. On the second nine, he had a birdie on sixth and a bogey on ninth to be 72 for the day and six-under for 36 holes.