Shiv Kapur and Jeev Milkha Singh looked likely to be the only Indians figuring in the final two rounds, when play was prematurely called off due to rain, lightning and thunder on the second day of the USD 1.8m BMW Asian Open.
Kapur was lying in the front greenside bunker of the 18th while Jeev Milkha was stranded on the 18th fairway when the hooter went off signaling the suspension of play at the wind-swept, cold and wet Tomson Pudong Golf Club.
Kapur seemed safe at one-over while Jeev was three-over at that stage with the cut likely at just that number.
Henrik Stenson, playing in the same group as Kapur, was leading at five-under and he was on the 18th green in two.
The clubhouse leader was Scotsman Paul Lawrie (70) at four-under 138. Right behind them were two Asians Malaysian Danny Chia (70) and Filipino Frankie Minoza (72) in the bunch of four, including Portuguese Jose Filipa Lima (70) and Irishman Peter Lawrie (72), at three-under.
Scoring conditions rapidly deteriorated during the day as the early morning breeze turned into a stiff wind and the temperatures dropped quickly to just under 14 degrees centigrade.
In the second round, only two players Graeme Storm of England and German Sven Struver broke 70 while there were only a handful of others coming under par for the day.
Meanwhile, the other four Indians had a rough day and missed the cut with Gaurav Ghei (75) and Amandeep Johl (76) at seven-over, Harmeet Kahlon (75) at nine over and Rahil Gangjee already 13-over with three mores holes to play.
The third round will resume at 8 am on Saturday and the third round will commence in three-balls from first and tenth tees.
When the initial drops started coming down and there was a solitary flash, Kapur was about to hit out of the bunker, when the hooter in the clubhouse seemed to sound just once.
Kapur withdrew and his caddie advised him to see if play was actually going to be suspended. As playing Mardan Mamat gestured towards the clubhouse the clarion sounded and players came off the course.
"Well with the cut looking at three-over, I need to get up and down for par and be safe," added Kapur, who was in 36th place.
"It was cold out there and luckily I was carrying a pullover," said Kapur, who patiently negotiated the first eight holes with pars before dropping shot at the ninth.
With 15th playing very tough, Kapur dropped one more there. "I had no birdies, though I missed a couple. Playing pars seemed fine in such conditions. Towards the end there was no feel in the hands as it was getting very chilly," added Kapur.
Meanwhile, Jeev in the fairway needs to get onto the green and get a par to play the final two rounds. At three-over following bogeys on third, seventh, ninth and 11th, he was three-over for the day.
"That was thanks to a welcome birdie on the par-5 13th which gave me some breathing space and then four pars followed, and I was happy with that," said Jeev.
The same could not be said about his playing partner, Colin Montgomerie who looked fine at three-under on the 16th tee, when he was hit by the sudden wind. He dropped a bogey each on 16th and 17th and was suddenly down to just one-under, when he came to the 18th.
Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion in most unlikely situation, when Jean Van De Velde triple bogeyed and then lost the play-off, has been running into some decent form of late.
He registered his first top-10 of the season last week in Volvo China Open, and on the second day he played in the morning and overcame the Shanghai wind to card a two-under-par 70.
Lawrie, starting from the 10th, birdied two of the last three holes and as conditions toughened his round became good enough to keep him close to the top.
When play was called off he was the clubhouse leader at four-under 138, with 14 groups (42 players) yet to finish their second round when play was called off for the day as rain, thunder and flashes of lightning followed.
Overnight leader Stenson of Sweden was a late starter and but he birdied the sixth and ninth and also dropped one on eighth to be even at the turn. On the back nine, he had a bogey on tenth and birdie on 12th and he was still even for the round with one more hole to play.
Britain's six-times major winner Nick Faldo, who after his round met the media to announce the Faldo Series Plan for junior golf in Asia, will miss the cut as he played five-over-par 77 to finish at seven-over for his first two rounds.
