Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar hangs onto lead at Macau Open
Indian Olympic hopeful's three-under-par 68 is enough to keep lead for the second straight day
His uncle represented India at three Olympics in the high jump. Gaganjeet Bhullar has hopes of carrying on the family tradition, as he made the rest of the field at the Venetian Macau Open jump through hoops by finishing in the outright lead for the second successive day.
Bhullar, 24, carded a three-under-par 68 which, while not as impressive as his opening round of 63, was more than enough to cement his position at the top of the leaderboard and carry a two-shot lead into the weekend's last two rounds.
"It was not as good as yesterday but still it's not a bad score," said Bhullar, who totalled an 11-under 131. "There is still a lot of golf left, 36 holes to go, but I'm feeling good having to play in the leading group."
Six years ago, when still an amateur, Bhullar represented India at the Pusan Asian Games, where he won a silver medal in the team event. He has been hooked on playing for his country ever since and is now looking forward to the return of golf at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"Winning an Olympic medal is the pinnacle for an athlete. My dad's elder brother, Ajit Bhullar, represented India at three Olympics and four Asian Games, where he won three gold medals.
"It will be lovely if I can represent my country in 2016. My family has high hopes for me and I will be working hard to achieve the goal of representing India."
Bhullar is one of India's most promising players from the young brigade and has been enjoying a good run of form recently. In his last five starts on the Asian Tour, he has won one tournament, finished second and had one more top-10 finish.