I hit it close on a number of occasions today and my tee shots were quite accurate.

'The conditions were easier than yesterday. It had been tougher in round one since I had played in the second session which witnessed intermittent rain. The conditions were very comfortable today and I made good use of it. I just hope to play steady in the last two rounds in order to be in contention.'

Mukesh Kumar, the 2007-08 PGTI Order of Merit champion, posted the best score of the day along with Siddikur. Mukesh's 69 included birdies on the first, 11th, 12th, 15th and a lone bogey on the third.

The professional from Mhow missed a 10 feet eagle putt on the 11th but managed to salvage a birdie. On the 12th he made a difficult 15 feet downhill putt for birdie. His last birdie on the par three 15th came as a result of a terrific five iron tee shot that landed two feet short of the hole.

Round one leader Harendra Gupta and Anirban Lahiri are a further shot back in tied fifth place while local lad C Muniyappa was lone seventh at one-under 143.

Two other Bangalore golfers, M. Dharma and R. Srinivas, were joint 14th at two over 146, but defending champion Rahul Ganapathy (78, 80) missed the cut as he totaled 14-over 158 for the tournament.