Gaganjeet Bhullar stayed as the best Indian despite a sharp fall in the second round, while Shiv Kapur shot the best round among his compatriots with a bogey free 68 at the Volvo China Open here today.
Bhullar, who was in Top-10 at the end of the first day, shot even par 72 with four birdies against four bogeys and at four-under for 36 holes, he is T-22nd.
Kapur (68) made up for his first round 73 and at three-under he is now T-35 alongside Shubhankar Sharma (69-72) and Arjun Atwal (69-72). Khalin Joshi (71-71) at T-50th was the fifth Indian to make the cut.
Ajeetesh Sandhu (72-76), SSP Chawrasia (75-75) and Jeev Milkha Singh (77-77) missed the cut, which fell at one-under 143.
Meanwhile, Matt Wallace of England signed for a battling two-under-par 70 to seize a one-shot lead at the halfway stage.
The 28-year-old Wallace, who won the Hero Indian Open for a breakthrough win last month, opened his campaign with a 65, moved atop the leaderboard after closing with a brilliant birdie, thanks to his caddy's advice to pace himself on the par-five 18th hole, at the Topwin Golf and Country Club.
Wallace traded one birdie against a bogey before soaring with an eagle on the par-five eighth hole to turn in 34. He reeled in six straight pars before dropping a shot on 17 which he would eventually gain it back on the last.
Kim, who enjoyed top-10 finishes in his last two starts on Tour, continued his fine form to sign for a 66, grabbing a share of second place with Australia's Jason Scrivener and Nacho Elvira of Spain in the USD 3.17 million event.
Soomin Lee of Korea reckoned the feel-good factor from his breakthrough win in the Middle Kingdom two years ago has stood in his favour as he put himself in the title mix after carding a 69. He sits two shots off the pace in fifth on 137 alongside three other players.
A total of 69 players made the halfway cut set at one-under-par 143 at the 24th edition of the Volvo China Open, tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the China Golf Association.
Overnight leader Daxing Jin of China slipped to tied-22nd position following a disappointing 76. He is amongst the six local players, including Haotong Li and Ashun Wu, to progress into the weekend rounds in their National Open.
Wallace sits in a current second place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings, which is led by Sharma of India.
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