File photo of Himmat Rai.
Indian golfer Himmat Rai dropped 14 places to be tied 35th after carding one-under 71 in the second round of the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament at the Damai Indah Golf, BSD course here on Thursday.
Himmat got birdies on the fourth, fifth, eighth and 13th holes against bogeys on the ninth, 11th and 16th to get 71. The Delhi golfer took his two-day total to three-under 141 — eight strokes short of leader Sutijet Kooratanapisan of Thailand.
Sutijet seized the halfway lead after signing for a 67 in the second round of the $100,000 Asian Development Tour (ADT) event. The 27-year-old, who opened his campaign with a 66 on Wednesday, nailed seven birdies against two bogeys to get a slender one-shot lead over American Jarin Todd.
Panuwat Muenlek, also of Thailand, returned with a flawless 67 to sit in third place on 135 while Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing and Michael Tran of Vietnam stayed a further shot back in fourth place following rounds of 67 and 66 respectively.
Malaysian Arie Irawan signed for the day’s lowest round of 65 to share sixth place on 137 with seven other players which include compatriot Danny Chia (70), American Brett Munson (68) and Chinese Taipei’s Lee Chieh-po (67).
Overnight leader Gavin Green of Malaysia carded a 74 to slip to tied 20th place on 139 while Order of Merit leader Hsieh Chi-hsien of Chinese Taipei unfortunately missed the halfway cut by six shots after returning with a 77.
