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Moscow - Sweden's Rikard Karlberg took a two-stroke lead at the halfway point of the Russian Open on Friday after carding a second-round four-under par 68 in Moscow.
Karlberg, seeking his maiden European Tour title, recorded six birdies against just two bogeys at the Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club to leave himself on nine-under overall going into the weekend.
"It was a pretty tough day out there because the wind got really strong in the middle of the round and caused quite a few problems," said the 26-year-old leader.
"But I made a really good start to the round and then when the conditions got worse I managed to hang in there and then had a great finish with two birdies in my last few holes which is very satisfying obviously.
"I am in a great position now but there is still a long way to go. We are only at the halfway stage and I need to keep doing what I have been doing and making birdies to have a chance," added the Swede.
Overnight co-leader Liang Wen-chong of China found himself in a four-way tie for second alongside Frenchman and defending champion Alexandre Kaleka, England's Matthew Baldwin, and Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey.
"I am very happy with the score because the conditions were a lot tougher than yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
"This morning it was cold and wet and the wind was really difficult to manage, so to shoot two under is a good result for me this morning," said Liang.
Leading and selected second round scores in the European Tour Russian Open at the Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 72):
135 - Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 67 68
137 - Matthew Baldwin 68 69, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA) 70 67, Michael Hoey 70 67, Liang Wen-Chong (CHN) 67 70
138 - Mark Foster 69 69 139 - Scott Hend (AUS) 70 69, Matthew Nixon 69 70, Mikko Korhonen (FIN) 69 70, James Morrison 68 71
140 - James Kingston (RSA) 71 69
141 - Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA) 70 71, Alessandro Tadini (ITA) 68 73, Jake Roos (RSA) 70 71, Andreas Harto (DEN) 70 71, Simon Dyson 67 74, Sam Little 69 72, Simon Wakefield 73 68
142 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 71 71, Daniel Gaunt (AUS) 70 72, David Horsey 70 72, Maarten Lafeber (NED) 69 73, Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 71 71, Gary Lockerbie 72 70, Joachim B Hansen (DEN) 72 70, Jamie Elson 71 71, David Higgins 71 71, Gregory Havret (FRA) 72 70
Selected:
143 - Michael Campbell (NZL) 70 73
144 - Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA) 73 71, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (IND) 72 72, Oliver Bekker (RSA) 74 71
146 - Haydn Porteous (RSA) 71 76, Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 74 73
148 - Anirban Lahiri (IND) 78 70
Missed cut:
151 - Justin Walters (RSA) 75 76
152 - Shiv Kapur (IND) 76 76
163 - Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS) 81 82
