Md Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh struck a sizzling six-under-66 in round two of the inaugural Dhaka Open, a US$ 60,000 event, to open up a five-shot lead at 10-under-134 at his home course, the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka.

The Indian duo of Shankar Das and Rahul Bajaj carded scores of 68 to occupy tied second place at five-under-139 at the event tri-sanctioned by the Asian Development Tour (ADT), Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and Bangladesh Professional Golfers Association (BPGA).

The 33-year-old Siddikur Rahman (68-66), lying overnight second, one shot off the lead, lived up to the tag of being the pre-tournament favourite on Thursday as he sank seven birdies at the cost of just one bogey.

Rahman, a 10th tee starter in round two, raced to three-under through nine holes thanks to a couple of long birdie conversions on the 17th and 18th holes. Siddikur, a multiple winner on the Asian Tour, then added three more birdies to his card on the front-nine to end the round with an impressive 10-under total.

Siddikur said, “I’ve done really well over the first two days having kept the errors out of my game despite the course not playing easy. My putter was hot today as I made three long birdie conversions including one from just off the green on the 17th.

“I also managed to capitalize on all the four par-5s today, making birdies on each one of them. I’ve now put myself in a good position to have a shot at the title. I’m really hungry to win in front of my home crowd once again. The key would be to keep my calm over the next two days,” added Rahman, who won a PGTI event in Bangladesh last year.

He further said, “The newly-launched City Bank American Express Dhaka Open will go a long way in unearthing more golfing talent from Bangladesh. I’m really looking forward to other Bangladesh players also performing well this week.”

While Shankar Das posted a bogey-free 68, Rahul Bajaj made five birdies and a bogey during his round of 68. Both players moved up five places from their overnight tied seventh.

Round one leader Shakhawat Sohel of Bangladesh dropped to tied fourth place at four-under-140 after his second round of 73. Sohel’s compatriot Akbar Hossain (70) and Sweden’s Malcolm Kokocinski (70) were also in tied fourth.

The halfway cut was declared at five-over-149. Fifty-eight golfers made the cut which included 30 Bangladeshis and 18 Indians.