Twenty years old pint-sized Chowrasia dropped only one stroke during the play today. His bogey came on the second hole from the left bunker. The Calcutta golfer had birdies on the second, eight, ninth, 15th and 16 holes.

Jeev Milkha Singh could have shot into limelight as he said ``I should have gone seven-under par on the front nine. I was unlucky to miss some easy putts. I missed birdies on the first three holes. If the ball would have one more roll, it would have been birdies. On the secondhole, the ball kissed the cup but missed the birdie.'' ``However, I am now in a strong position to end title drought,'' said a confident Jeev, the only Indian golfer who has qualified for the European PGA. Jeev recorded birdies on the fifth, sixth, seventh, 14th and 18th holes. He bogied on the 11th and 16th holes.

After 73 yesterday, Jeev was in form. With a bit of luck he could have still returned a more impressive card than three-under par 68. With a total of 142, he was one stroke behind Amritinder Singh and Chowrasia. Amritinder Singh today played two-over par 74. He had a double bogey on the the 10th hole besides hitting one over on the fourth and sixth holes. He birdied on the 9th and 12 holes.

Forty one professionals and four amateurs have made the cut halfway through the event which was applied at 160.

Leading scorers (after 36 holes): 141 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (73+68), Amritinder Singh (67+74); 142 Jeev Milkha Singh (73+69); 145 Bunty Randhawa (73+72), Amandeep Johl (75+70),Shiv Prakash (69+76); 146 Mukesh Kumar (76+70); 148 Uttam Singh Mundy (76+72), Basad Ali (76+72), Vijay Kumar (75+73), Feroz Ali (75+73).

Amateurs: 152 Jaiveer Singh (78+74); 156 Manav Das (76+80), HS Kang (80+76); 157 Saurabh Bahuguna (79+78); 160 Vikramjeet Singh (80+80).