KATHMANDU: Anura Rohana of Sri Lanka carded seven-under 65 to share lead with fellow countryman and amateur Mithun Perera on the second day of the Surya Nepal Masters here at the Gokarna Golf Club on Thursday.

Perera, who shared the first-round lead with Nepal No 1 pro Shiva Ram Shrestha at four-under 68, played a flawless bogey-free round of two-under 70 for a tournament total of six-under 138. Nepali pros faltered on the second day of the second event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2009-10 with Shiva Ram managing three-over 75 for a total of two-over 143, that left him five strokes behind the Sri Lankan leaders at tied seventh along with Kunal Bhasin (72) and Ramesh Kumar, who produced the day’s second best card of six-under 66.

Harinder Gupta, who shot even par 72 to add to his first-round score of 69, is third, while defending champion Shamim Khan, Nabin Mondal and Ashok Kumar, all from India, are tied for fourth at two-under 142. Khan shot one-under for the second straight day, while Mondal carded two-under and Ashok Kumar added one-over to his overnight score of three-under 69.

Deepak Thapa Magar, the only Nepali pro to card under-par round on the second day, completed the top 10 at one-over 145 after a round of one-under 71. Ramesh Nagarkoti, who was tied third at three-under 69 after the first round, shot five-over 77 today to slip down to 11th position. A total of 13 Nepali pros made the cut applied at 12-over 156. Out of the 25 local pros, 10 missed the cut while Krishna Man Rajbahak was disqualified as he was absent on tee time and Surya Sharma withdrew midway through the first round because of shoulder injury.

Apart from Shiva Ram, Thapa Magar and Nagarkoti, other Nepali pros who qualified for the last two rounds included Rabi Khadka, Sanjay Lama and Ram Thapa (148), Deepak Neupane (151), Mani Rai (153), Deepak Acharya and Purna Sharma (154), Ram Krishna Shrestha, Pashupati Sharma and Bishnu Neupane (155).

Rohana set the course on fire with a scintillating round of seven-under that included six birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey. Rohana had birdies on the first, fourth, seventh and ninth holes, while he dropped a shot on the par-three eighth to take a turn at three-under 33. On the back nine, he sank an eagle on the par-five 11th before carding birdies on the 12th and 16th in a bogey-free four-under 32.

Perera had a flawless round on the front nine as he made nine par-putts. On the turn, he carded two straight birdies on the par-five holes — 11 and 12 — to submit the two-under 70 card, that gave him the tournament total of six-under. Ramesh Kumar carded seven birdies against a lone bogey in his six-under 66. Nepal’s top pro Shiva Ram did everything possible to make the day forgettable. He three-putted from five yards, hit hazard from bunker and found water. “In all, it was not my day,” he said.

Starting the day from the 10th hole, Shiva Ram dropped a shot on the par-five 11 but managed a birdie on the next hole. He again dropped a shot on the par-three 13th and struggled for a double bogey on the par-five 15th to take a turn at three-over 39. Shiva Ram started the back nine with birdies on the first and shot another on the third hole.

But all went wrong after he had a double bogey on the par-four fourth and a bogey on the par-three fifth hole. He managed a birdie on the seventh to finish the back nine at even par 36. “I could not concentrate on my game today,” he said.

The 26-year-old pro, however, was not too much worried about the gap with the leaders. “I am just five strokes behind the leaders. It’s not a huge difference. And with two more rounds to go, I still have a chance to catch them up,” said confident Shiva Ram.

In amatur section, Jamail Hossain Mollah is distant second at 150, two strokes ahead of Nepal’s Rupak Acharya. wanchen Dhondup is further two strokes behind Acharya. Mohd Shohel (155) and Rashid Khan (156) are also in the fray.

It was also a bad day for former Indian Open winner Vijay Singh as he was disqualified this morning. Singh was barred to play from the second round after he was adjudged to have played the ball from wrong place on the first day. Mohd Shabuddin was also disqualified after he signed in the wrong second-round card.

Four players — Chitrajit Kalra, Anthony Chaot, Porus Chopra and Surya Sharma — have withdrawn from the event due to illness or injury.