Mukesh Kumar continued his good form as he repeated his first day score of 69 on Thursday to stay in the lead at the Sir Padampat Singhania Open 2004, which is being played at the Noida Golf Course.

Gast Ram and Pappan joined him on top of the leader-board, all three ending the day at six-under 138 to ensure a three-way tie for the second day running.

Ashok Kumar occupied the sole fourth position at five-under 139.

The cut at the end of the day was applied at eight-over 152. As many as 57 pros and six amateurs made it to the deciding rounds. Amongst the notable pros who missed the cut were Shamim Khan and Suleiman Ali (both Delhi) and  local pros Amit Dube and Monish Bindra.

Just squeezing in was Asian PGA Tour player Uttam Singh Mundy, who suffered back pain during his round.

Overnight joint leader Mukesh Kumar came up with a consistent performance in a round that was made up of five birdies, three of which came on the back nine. His 69 for the day contained two bogeys, which came on the sixth and  sixteenth holes.

"I am extremely happy with my consistent form though I need to spend some time on the putting green," said the pro.

Meanwhile, Pappan played an exceptional round of four-under 68, which included five birdies and one eagle. The eagle came on the par five 14th where his driver-3 iron combination landed him on the green where he holed in a 15 feet putt. The Delhi Golf Club pro dropped shots on the third, sixth and tenth.

Gast Ram too returned a good card that contained six birdies, four of which came in consecutive holes starting on the seventh. His card would have been much better-looking had it not been for bogies on the 16th and 18th.

Chirag retains lead: Meanwhile, amateur Chirag played a superb round of 72 to finish on top with a two-day tally of 143. Jasjeet Singh of GAIL returned a card of 70 and was tied for second spot with brother Simarjeet Singh at 147.

Scores (after 36 holes): 138_ Mukesh Kumar(69,69), Pappan(70,68), Gast Ram(70,68); 139_Ashok Kumar(69,70); 141_Digvijay Singh(71,70); 143_Rahul Ganapathy(73,70), Vishal Singh(73,70), DS Raghuvanshi(71,72), Gaurav Ghei(71,72), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia(70,73), Sandeep Syal(70,73), Yusuf Ali(70,73).

Amateurs: 143_Chirag Kumar; 147_Jasjeet Singh, Simarjeet Singh.