<p class="title">Ajeetesh Sandhu and Aadil Bedi were the best Indians at the end of the first round, bringing home identical five-under 67 at the USD 300,000 Sarawak Golf Championship on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Indian duo was tied 17th and was three shots behind Malaysian Ben Leong (64), who was down with fever for last two days.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among other Indians, four of them -- Rashid Khan, Viraj Madappa, Udayan Mane and Aman Raj -- carded four-under 68 each to be tied 30th on a low scoring day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Abhijit Chadha, S Chikkarangappa, Akshay Sharma and Gaurav Pratap Singh also started well with three-under 69 to be tied 52nd. Those behind them were Shiv Kapur and M Dharma with 70 each, Honey Baisoya, Khalin Joshi and Karandeep Kochhar with 71 each; Chiragh Kumar with 73 and Veer Ahlawat with 74.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Leong rose from his sickbed to set the morning pace with a flawless eight-under-par 64. He recovered just in time to post a commendable round highlighted by one eagle and six birdies at the Arnold Palmer-designed Damai Golf and Country Club.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Daisuke Kataoka of Japan trails by one in second place while Australian Terry Pilkadaris sits a further shot back in third alongside American Trevor Simsby, Thai duo Settee Prakongvech and Sadom Kaewkanjana after they shot matching 66s.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sandhu, who has one Asian Tour win to his name, and Bedi, in his rookie season, had six birdies against one bogey each at a course that yielded a lot of birdie chances.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Thai veteran Prayad Marksaeng produced the shot of the day when his five-iron tee shot found the bottom of the cup on the par-three 14th hole from 202 yards. It was the 14th ace he has recorded in his illustrious career. </p>
<p class="title">Ajeetesh Sandhu and Aadil Bedi were the best Indians at the end of the first round, bringing home identical five-under 67 at the USD 300,000 Sarawak Golf Championship on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Indian duo was tied 17th and was three shots behind Malaysian Ben Leong (64), who was down with fever for last two days.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among other Indians, four of them -- Rashid Khan, Viraj Madappa, Udayan Mane and Aman Raj -- carded four-under 68 each to be tied 30th on a low scoring day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Abhijit Chadha, S Chikkarangappa, Akshay Sharma and Gaurav Pratap Singh also started well with three-under 69 to be tied 52nd. Those behind them were Shiv Kapur and M Dharma with 70 each, Honey Baisoya, Khalin Joshi and Karandeep Kochhar with 71 each; Chiragh Kumar with 73 and Veer Ahlawat with 74.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Leong rose from his sickbed to set the morning pace with a flawless eight-under-par 64. He recovered just in time to post a commendable round highlighted by one eagle and six birdies at the Arnold Palmer-designed Damai Golf and Country Club.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Daisuke Kataoka of Japan trails by one in second place while Australian Terry Pilkadaris sits a further shot back in third alongside American Trevor Simsby, Thai duo Settee Prakongvech and Sadom Kaewkanjana after they shot matching 66s.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sandhu, who has one Asian Tour win to his name, and Bedi, in his rookie season, had six birdies against one bogey each at a course that yielded a lot of birdie chances.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Thai veteran Prayad Marksaeng produced the shot of the day when his five-iron tee shot found the bottom of the cup on the par-three 14th hole from 202 yards. It was the 14th ace he has recorded in his illustrious career. </p>