Overall though, it was a strong display by Indian golfers with three of them in the Top-10. Veer Ahlawat was tied fourth while Angad Cheema (4-under 212) was tied seventh and Honey Baisoya (3-under 213) was tied 10th.
Angad Cheema followed his opening day's four-under 68 with a 71 to sit alongside Finland's Mikko Korhonen (72), Iceland's Gudmundur Kristjansson (71) and Germany's Marcel Siem (70), who were all on five-under 139 with Cheema at the end of the second day as scoring grew progressively tougher.
Paul, who turns 29 next Sunday and will be looking for an early birthday present, came close to equalling the course record of 8-under held by Shubhankar Sharma on the first day. He started the second day early and negotiated the difficult pins very well. A fast start from the tenth saw him
Robert MacIntyre is looking to take back the Indian Open Trophy, which was last won by his own countryman, Stephen Gallacher in 2019. The Scottish duo along with David Law, who was third at the Hero Open held last year in Scotland, will be gunning for the event that is being staged for the 5
The Indian Open - to be held between February 23-26 at the DLF Golf and Country Club - will see a high-powered field of star players, including defending champion Stephen Gallacher, 2018 Ryder Cup-winning captain Thomas Bjorn, his fellow Ryder Cup teammate Thorbjorn Olesen, Scotland's Robert