Ashok Kumar continued his impressive strides towards capturing his maiden professional title when he shot a two-under 68 in the second round of the inaugural Rs One million Tata Steel Open, being played at the Beldih and Golmuri Club courses, in Jamshedpur, on Friday.

Ashok, who is attached to the DLF Golf & Country Club in Delhi, shot a two-under 68 at the par-70 Golmuri Club to open up a three-stroke lead over the second placed Zai Kipgen (Delhi) and Mukesh Kumar.

Jamshedpur's brightest amateur, Amit Khaitan was among four tied for the fourth place at one-under 141. The others were Indrajit Bhalotia, Rahil Gangjee (both Kolkata) and Amritinder Singh of Chandigarh.

The mid-way cut was applied at 10-over 152 and 51 pros made it to the money-making rounds.

Ashok Kumar was a picture of consistency for the second day running. As the rest of the field struggled with the small greens, the 21-year-old resorted to intelligent tactics.

"I didn't get carried away by the fact that the Golmuri is a small course. I didn't use driver in most of the holes and all I wanted to do was keep myself short of the green as chipping up to the hole is much more easier on both the courses," said Ashok, after the round.

Ashok found all nine greens in regulation in his first nine, but could not give himself birdie opportunities, as he never came close to the pin.

"The putts simply refused to drop and it was getting a bit frustrating not to get results despite playing good golf," said Ashok, who parred his first ten holes. On the 11th, he sank a 10-footer for his first birdie, but was back to square one on the 13th when he made a bogey after a perfect looking second shot caught the branch of a tree and went into the bunker. From there, he could not make his up and down. Birdies on the 14th and 16th helped him finish at two-under 68.

Mukesh Kumar, currently the No 1 player in the country, looked in good nick and was three-under after 10 holes, before making bogies on the 11th and 17th holes.

"Both the courses are not as easy as they look like. I think I have a chance, but Ashok is playing good golf too," said Mukesh, who is on the look-out for his seventh title in last 11 tournaments.

Zai Kipgen started with two birdies but made the turn at level-par after making bogies on the third and the ninth holes. On the back nine, he made successive birdies on the 14th and 15th holes and a bogey on the 16th for a one-under 69.

Feroz Ali, second on day one, hit three out-of-bound shots in a disastrous round of nine-over 79.

Khaitan leads amateurs: Amit Khaitan was the only amateur to make the professional cut, after shooting a one-over 71 at Golmuri. Khaitan, a 21-year-old student, was actually tied for the fourth place in the entire field at one-under 141.

Scores (after 36 holes): 137 _ Ashok Kumar (69,68); 140 _ Zai Kipgen (71,69), Mukesh Kumar (71,69); 141 _ Indrajit Bhalotia (72,69), Rahil Gangjee (72,69), Amritinder Singh (71,70); 143 _ Shamim Khan (75,68), Devendra Patel (73,70), Amit Dube (72,71), Shiv Prakash (72,71), Sanjay Kumar (70,73); 144 _ Sheeraz Kalra (73,71), Rohtas Singh (70,74); 145 _ Balbir Singh Verma (73,72), SSP Chowrasia (75,70), Pappan (71,74); 146 _ Randhir Gotra (72,74), Binod Pandey (74,72).

Amateurs: 141 _ Amit Khaitan (70,71).

Day 1 report: Ashok Kumar forges ahead