MHOW, March 23: Binod Pandey carded a one-under 68 on he par-69 course to lead after the first day in the Eicher Central India Open golf tournament here. Pandey was followed by a pack of five, Vijay Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Shiv Prakash and Rajiv Kumar, all of whom shot a par 69 on a day marked by poor putting. Defending champion Ali Sher was lying 11th at two-over 71. Pandey whose best finish this year has been the seventh place at the Wills Southern Open in Bangalore had a string of birdies on the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holes. But then he lapsed into errors and bogeyed the ninth, 10th and 11th. Local Mukesh Kumar, who has three titles this year, parred the first nine holes and then after his birdie on the tenth, he had bogeys on 11th, 13th and 15th holes before he slotted an eagle on the par-4 16th hole. Vijay Kumar, who missed an incredible number of short putts, including a two putt from eight inches. He was four over after six holes, but then managed to claw back to par 69 for the day. Leading scores: 68 - Binod Pandey; 69 - Mukesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar and Shiv Prakash and Rajiv Kumar; 70 - D Raghuvanshi, Juman, Raju Ali, Ranjit Singh.
