Bhullar moves up to tied eighth in Asian Tour International

BANGKOK - India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar moved up the leaderboard, as he added a second straight 71 to get into the top-10 at the midway stage of the Asian Tour International Friday.

Bhullar is now two-under 142 and four shots off the twin leaders, Mars Pucay (69) and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat (70) who were six-under 138 each in the $300,000 season-opening tournament.

Bhullar apart, things were not very happy for the Indian contingent, as all of them missed the cut. Rahil Gangjee (76) was 78th at four-over 148, while Himmat Rai struggled to make up from his first day 77 and despite a 72 finished at five-over 149. Gaurav Ghei (73) and C Muniyappa (79) also missed the cut by huge margins.

Indian-Australian Kunal Bhasin, who plays on the Indian Tour, shot a 77 and missed the cut after being eighth on the first day.

Bhullar started on the tenth tee had three birdies and two bogeys, same as the first day. He birdied the 11th, 17th and second and dropped shots on 16th and sixth.

“My ball striking wasn’t all that good and I also missed two three-foot putts out there. It could have been easily four under for me but there are two more days to go and I am feeling confident,” said Bhullar.

Looking at the positives, he added: “The good part is that I am driving it well and missed only two fairways out there. I just need to get better with my putting to move up the leaderboard and I am quite pleased with my position after two days. I will try to move up tomorrow to give ourselves a chance Sunday.”

The 39-year-old Pucay, who has plied his trade in Asia since 1995 without a win, fired a second successive three-under-par 69 to share the halfway lead with co-overnight leader Kiradech, who returned a 70 for a six-under-par 138 total.

One shot back is in-form Singaporean Lam Chih Bing, who also carded a 70 while American rookie David Johnson sneaked into contention with another 70 to lie three shots back with Thai duo Thammanoon Srirot and Wisut Artjanawat and Filipino Angelo Que, who shot the day’s best of 67.

Thai amateur Atiwit Janewattananond wrote a slice of history by becoming the youngest player at 14 years and 71 days to make the halfway cut on the Asian Tour after shooting a 73 for tied eighth place on 142, with amongst others, Malaysia’s Ben Leong, Bhullar and eight-time Japan Tour winner Hideto Tanihara.

Attiwit, a grade eight student and a member of the Thai amateur squad, eclipsed Chinese Taipei’s Lo Shih-kai, who was 14 years and 275 days at the 2003 Taiwan Open.

Defending champion James Kamte of South Africa shot a second straight 73 to make the halfway cut right on the 146 mark, which saw 69 players progressing into the weekend rounds.