Port Louis (Mauritius), April 10 Veer Ganapathy delivered a superb finish to take the sole two-stroke lead after the second day of the AM Green AM GREEN IGPL Invitational 2026, hosted by Leander Paes here on Friday.
Overnight co-leader Sachin Baisoya (67-71) faltered on the very last hole, giving Ganapathy (67-69) the lead and putting him in a prime position to contend for the title.
The 18-year-old left-handed golfer from Bangalore, who shot 67 on the first day, was even par after the first nine holes at the Anahita Golf Course, but scored three birdies on the back nine.
These included birdies on the 16th and 18th, resulting in a 3-under 69 and a total of 8-under after 36 holes.
The co-leader from the first round, Baisoya (67-71), who was tied for the lead after 17 holes, made a bogey on the Par-5 18th, while his playing partner, Ganapathy, made a birdie. This two-stroke difference gave Ganapathy the sole lead, with Baisoya falling to 6-under.
Other players, including former two-time All India Amateur champion Aryan Roopa Anand (71-70), Ridhima Dilawari (69-72), and Milind Soni (69-72), were at 3-under after two rounds and are tied for third place.
In the team competition, RVR Delhi moved to the top with a two-round total of 7-under, while Phoenix Hyderabad are second, one stroke behind, alongside Atri Mumbai.
With the challenging conditions at Anahita continuing, only four other players – WGAI pro Amandeep Drall (69-74), Udayan Mane (70-73), rookie Sukhman Singh (71-72), and Shaurya Binu (75-68) – were under par with a total of 1-under each. They are tied for eighth place.
Only 12 players are in the red numbers, indicating how challenging the course has been with the windy conditions and demanding greens.
Other players who are outside the top 10 include Pukhraj Gill (72-72), SSP Chawrasia (73-71), and Gaurav Ghei (74-70) at T-12; Shiv Kapur (70-73) at T-20; Karandeep Kochhar (73-73) at T-22, and Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-74) at T-29.
Ganapathy said, "I have been playing well, and that worked for me today, especially on the back nine. I have been in contention before, and I know that the more I put myself in this position, the more chances I will have."