Chandigarh based Harjai Milkha Singh finished strongly with three birdies in the last five holes to card 2-under 70 and take sole lead in Boys 13 Category of the US Kids Golf European Championship in Edinburgh (Scotland),.
Harjai, leads at 2-under 142. With 72-70, he is two ahead of three others at tied second.
While Harjai is in sole lead in Boys 13, another one from Chandigarh, Nihal Cheema, is Tied-second in Boys Under 7. Bengaluru’s Adit Veeramachaneni is sole third in Boys 9 section. Vihaan Jain is Tied-fifth in Boys 13.
All three Indian girls figured in Top-seven. First day co-leader Mahreen Bhatia slipped from Tied first to Tied third with a 75 in Girls 13-14 category at the Royal Musselburgh Golf Club.
Naina Kapoor (81-85) rose from Tied-eighth to Tied-fifth in the Girls 11 section also at Royal Musselburgh Golf Club and Ananyaa Sood (77-75) slipped from Tied-sixth to seventh in Girls 12 at Glen Golf Club.
In Boys 13, one of the most competitive sections, Harjai was 2-over after seven holes with one birdie and three bogeys, but a birdie on eighth saw him turn in one-over.
With one more round to go Harjai is two ahead of three others, American Colin McAskin (73-71), South Africa’s Jordan Botha (75-69) and England’s Kodi Dean of (77-67).
In Boys 13, Vihaan Jain stayed in Tied-fifth place with a second round 72 after a first round 72 as he dropped two late bogeys. The third player in the section, Srivastava was hit with a triple bogey on the closing 18th as he suffered multiple lipouts on the final hole and ended with a second straight 75 to drop to Tied-11th.
Nihal rose from Tied-fifth to sole second at 4-under for two nine-hole rounds. The leader is Thailand-based Sean Wilding (29-37).
Bengaluru’s Adit Veeramachaneni shot a second straight 72 at Musselburgh Golf Club and moved up from fourth to third. He is five behind leader, Belgium’s Victor Bernardini (71-68) and one behind Russian federation’s Dmitri Elhchaninov, who shot 73-70.
In Boys 10 section, Vidit Aggarwal dropped from Tied-third to Tied-13th with 75-83, Manyaveer Bhadoo (82-81) slipped one place from Tied-11th to Tied-12th in Boys 15-18.
Harjai from Boys 13 and Mahreen from Girls 13-14 have also qualified for the International Team for the Van Horn Cup to be held after the individual event.