Jakarta: Gaganjeet Bhullar stayed ahead of the field even though he still had two holes to play from his second round at the weather-disrupted Indonesia Open here today.
Bhullar, who won the first Asian Tour title of his career in Indonesia, moved from seven-under in first round to 10-under after 16 holes in the second.
Bhullar was playing partner Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand, who had nine-under with two more holes to play. They will return on Saturday to complete the second round alongside 52 other players.
Thailand's Prom Meesawat showed no signs of disappointment from a play-off defeat two weeks ago when he shot a second round five-under-par 66. The burly Thai, who lost to China's Liang Wen-chong in a play-off in Manila, put himself in a strong position to win a second Asian Tour title since 2006 after compiling a nine-under-par 133 total at the Pantai Indah Kapuk course at the Damai Indah Golf.
SSP Chowrasia was in excellent form shooting five-under 66 to move to tied 13th alongside Sujjan Singh, who was also at five-under with seven holes to play.
Anirban Lahiri (71-68), Jyoti Randhawa (69-70), Abhinav Lohan (70-70), Himmat Rai (73 and four-under through 14), Chiragh Kumar (74-67), Shiv Kapur (72 and two-under through 15) and Rahil Gangjee (75-69) all looked likely to make the cut.
The lone Indian in danger was Ajeetesh Sandhu (73 and three-over through 16 holes).
Decorated Thai stars Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant, both former Indonesia Open winners, fired a 67 and 64 respectively for identical 134s in the morning before play was abandoned due to lightning threats.
Two-time Major champion Retief Goosen of South Africa moved up the leaderboard with a 65 to tie with Mardan Mamat (69) on 137 at the USD 750,000 Asian Tour event.
Prom turned in one-over-par 37 but marked a sensational comeback when he chipped-in from 25-feet for birdie on hole two. He immediately holed four straight birdies and added another birdie on the eighth hole to set the clubhouse target.
Reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Thaworn, who won the Indonesia Open in 2005, returned with a flawless 64 to stay on track for an unprecedented 17th Asian Tour victory and was among the strong Thai representation in the top-10.
Thongchai, a three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, took advantage of his sharp iron play where he found 15 greens in regulation, which resulted in six birdies against two bogeys.
"I have no complaints with my round. It has been two good rounds and I have a good chance to win now. Obviously it is easier to play in the morning because there's hardly any wind," said Thongchai.
