Bangladesh Open golf: Amardip Malik tied third; Sanjay Kumar and Sajjan Singh joint sixth

Amardip Malik in action in Bangladesh

Dhaka, May 27 (IANS)

Indian golfer Amardip Malik fired four-under 67 to grab the tied third position, while Sanjay Kumar and Sajjan Singh shared the sixth position as they scored identical three-under 68s in the first round of the $300,000 Bangladesh Open here on Wednesday.

Amardip surprised one and all and came out all guns blazing at the Kurmitola Golf Club that is hosting inaugural Asian Tour event in Bangladesh. Amardip shared the spot with Carlos Pigem and Rattanon Wannasrichan, who failed to stop Singaporean veteran Mardan Mamat and Casey O'Toole of the United States from taking a one-shot lead.

Mardan, a four-time Asian Tour winner, stayed patient despite two weather delays to take his place atop the leaderboard with six birdies. O'Toole, an Asian Development Tour (ADT) regular, birdied all the par-fives to tie for the lead in his first ever Asian Tour event.

Janne Kaske of Finland, who won his first title on the ADT two weeks ago, placed sixth alongside Indians Sanjay and Sujjan on matching 68s.

Other Indians in the fray, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Om Prakash Chouhan shared the ninth spot after carding identical two-under 69s, while Khalin Joshi and M. Dharma settled for the tied 20th spot after scoring matching 71s.

Chiragh Kumar and Angad Cheema finished tied 33rd as they scored matching 72s, while rest of the Indians fared badly in the opening round that was suspended at 6.50 pm due to fading light. A total of 30 players will return on Thursday at 6.25 am to resume their rounds.

However, popular Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman stumbled to a disappointing 72 to trail the leaders by six shots.