Amit Dube grabs
Singhania Open lead

Local hero Amit Dube did justice to the large gallery following him to return a four-under 68 and grab a one-stroke lead at the half-way stage of the Rs 600,000 Sir Padampat Singhania Open 2002, being played at the par-72, Noida Golf course.

Dube's tally stands at six-under 138 after two rounds in the 20th event of the 2001-02 season's Hero Honda Golf Tour.

Dangerous Kolkatan Feroz Ali put himself in a fine position to go for his fifth title of the season, with a second-round effort of two-under 70, which propelled him to second place, one stroke behind the leader at five-under 139.

Overnight leader Chandigarh's Amritinder Singh slipped to third spot at four-under 140 while Luckow's Sanjay Kumar occupied the fourth position at 141.

Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, India's top ranked golfer and Feroz's arch-rival, was tied fifth with Hero Honda Golf Tour debutant, 20-year old Ashok Kumar (Delhi) at 143.

Defending champion SSP Chowrasia of Kolkata followed up his opening round 69 with a 79 today to slip to the tied-14th spot at 148. The cut was applied at 13-over 157 with 53 pros making it to the deciding rounds.

It would have been extremely easy for anybody to locate Amit Dube on the golf course today. He had a healthy gallery following him. This worked wonders for his confidence as he erred just once in his round of 68.

"I am happy with the way I played. It was nice to have all those people following me, especially my wife. The NGC is my home course and for the sake of my friends and well-wishers here I would like to keep the momentum going in the final two rounds," said Dube.

A tenth-tee starter, Dube began his round with a par and a bogey. "Getting a bogey early on is always a blow to the confidence but my game held together and it was a smooth journey thereafter."

Smooth it certainly was, with the golfer returning birdies on the 12th and 13th on his outward journey and three more on the 1st, 6th and 7th on the way back.

"I am hitting the ball really well and the home advantage is there in that I can read these greens better than most others," concluded Dube.

Feroz Ali kept up to his new policy of playing it easy on the first two days. One of the most attacking golfers on the Hero Honda Golf Tour, Feroz, started steadily with a sea of pared holes, before birdying the 17th, his eighth hole of the day. Thereafter, he birdied the 1st and 4th before dropping his only shot of the day on the 7th.

"This technique has worked wonders for me. I give myself a nice launch-pad on the first two days and go for gold in the money-making rounds," said Feroz, who has four wins under his belt already this season.

Bahuguna maintains amateur lead: Local golfer Saurav Bahuguna continued to lead the amateur field with a two-day tally of two-over 146. However, the star of the day was former Test cricketer Ajay Jadeja, who after a triple-bogey start to his round, finished with the best score among the amateurs for the day. Jadeja's one-over 73, pushed his tally to 148, two strokes behind the leader.

SCORES (after 36 holes): 138_Amit Dube(70,68); 139_Feroz Ali(69,70); 140_Amritinder Singh(67,73); 141_Sanjay Kumar(68,73); 143_Mukesh Kumar(72,71), Ashok Kumar(70,73); 144_Praduman Guleria(74,70), GS Sethi(73,71); 146_Shiv Prakash(74,72), Yusuf Ali(73,73); 147_Rafiq Ali(72,75), Jumman(71,76).

Amateurs: 146_Saurav Bahuguna(72,74); 148_Ajay Jadeja(75,73); 150_Simarjeet Singh(75,75), Vikramjeet Singh(75,75)

Day 1 report: Birthday boy Amritinder leads Singhania Open