Shahid takes the lead

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy sports corr.

Bangladeshi Mohammed Shahid with a zero handicap took over the lead in both Cross and Nett Divisions at the 121st Sri Lanka Open Amateur Golf Championship at the end of round two in the competition organised by the Sri Lanka Golf Union and the Victoria Golf and Country Resort which is now being worked off at the Victoria golf course in Rajawella off Kandy yesterday.

Mohammed Shahid who is one of the top golfers in Bangladesh and in the sub continent played exceptionally well and got to terms with the challenging golf course which did not hold terrors for him yesterday.

In the Gross Division he registered 71 with M. Hali Hai of Pakistan too registering a similar but on a count back on the back nine holes Shahid had 9:32 and Hali Hai 9:35 with just a fraction separating them.

In third place was John Nelsson Hueverva of Phillipines with 72 Gross. First day’s leader Mithun Perera is lying fourth with 74 Gross and in fifth place was H.S. Kang of India with 74 with three other golfers with Tharon Googale and Vijitha Bandara too notching up 74 gross.

Mohammed Shahid of Bangladesh led the Nett Division too with a Nett score of 71 on a better back to nine count back. Five other golfers too registered Nett scores of 71 and they are R. Pathmanathan (Sri Lanka), K. Hali Hai (Pakistan), H.S. Kang (India), Tharun Googale (India) Vijitha Bandara (Sri Lanka) and Priya Hemantha who had a handicap of 12.

Sri Lanka’s champion golfer K. Prabagaran on whom much was expected is way down in the list of honour registering 79 Gross and 77 Nett playing to a handicap of two.

Mithun Perera is 8th in Gross with 74 and fourth in Nett with 72.

The championship continues today and a keen contest is expected in the third round with the Sri Lankan golfers determined to make amends with better scores.