'It brought back memories of last year when I shot 66 in second round'

Abu Dhabi: While the focus of most Indian fans was on Jeev Milkha Singh it was Shiv Kapur who sparkled in round two yesterday to finish joint third.

Apart from leader Philip Price and Miguel Jimenez' 7 under par 65s, Kapur's 6 under par 66 was among the next best of yesterday's round.

Kapur, who made the most of the early start, fired the superb round to leap frog into the leader board with an eight under par 136.

"I was lucky. I got the good end of the draw and was out there almost before daybreak. There was no wind for my first 10 or 12 holes and I made a few putts and just kept going," said Kapur.

Playing in the first group to tee off at 7.15am yesterday, Kapur had two successive birdies in the first two holes and then another in the fourth.

His finished his first nine in five under par but could only record just one more birdie in the next nine.

"It brought back good memories of last year when I shot 66 in the second round, so it was nice to repeat that," said the Indian, who said that some changes he made with his coach in Dallas during Christmas seemed to have helped.

"I spent 4-5 days with Peter Murphy in Dallas and made some changes to my swing. I am also feeling fresh mentally as I haven't played much golf and am ready to go."

Much was expected from Jeev Milkha Singh, who had a brilliant season last year which included a win in the Volvo Masters, but the Indian star failed to make the cut.

The other Indian, Jyothi Randhwa, also failed to make the cut of 65.

Kapur's three bogeys on the opening weighed him down to a 2 under par 70, but the Indian is looking forward to the next two days: "I feel at home here with the Indian population."