KARACHI, July 21: Wasim Rana and Rafiq Malik shared the lead on the opening day of the inaugural Sindh Governor golf cup at the Karachi Golf Club on Saturday. The duo shot identical scores of four-over par 76 as windy conditions at the golf course made things difficult for the participating golfers in the two-day championship.

Closely chasing the leaders were a couple of golfers placed just one shot behind at 77. Seasoned golfer Sohail K. Rana and Ayaz Gul were placed at a joint second place on the leader board after the first 18 of the 36 hole championship.

Ali Sher, Sajid Khan, Rizwan Farooq and Rehan Mirza were placed at a joint third position after returning similar cards of 78.

International golfer Ali Hai who started as the favourite for the title had a disastrous opening round, scoring a poor 81.

Opening round scorers:

Amateurs:

76 Wasim Rana, Rafiq Malik

77 Sohail K. Rana, Ayaz Gul

78 Ali Sher, Sajid Khan, Rizwan Farooq, Rehan Mirza

79 Karrar Hussain

80 Amjad Rana, Abrar Ahmed, Faisal Jaffri, Ashfaq Rufi, Ghuran Ghani, Umair Salim

81 Ali Hai, Umar Bangash, Humayun Karamat, Umair Jaced

82 Khurram Khan, Shahzad Noor, Rizwan Umar

Ladies:

90 Kim Soon-Cheon (winner), Shireen Khan, Faakeha Ahmereen (runners-up)

Veterans:

0-11 handicap: Syed Ali (44, winner), Col M.Z.K. Burki (47, runner-up)

12-15 handicap: Abdus Samad (41, winner), Bakhtiar Saeed (43, runner-up)

16-18 handicap: Habibullah Habi (44, winner), Munir Safdar Ali (45, runner-up). —PPI