Karjalainen grabs weekend lead in Asian Tour opener

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BANGKOK -- Finland's Toni Karjalainen began his rookie year on the Asian Tour strongly when he carded a second round 12-under-par 64 to take over the lead at the Asian Tour International on Friday.

Overnight leader Marcus Both of Australia is a shot behind after posting a 68 for a 11-under-par 131 total while Japan's Tetsuji Hiratsuka took third place on 68.

Hirotaro Naito finished with a 66 to take fourth place while Korea's Ted Oh and India's Gaganjeet Bhullar are among the eight players bunched together in fifth place on 134.

When play finally resumed after being delayed for approximately 50 minutes due to the heavy morning fog, Karjalainen quickly got off the blocks with birdie-birdie in his opening back nine.

"It has been really good for me so far. I made it through qualifying school and with this being my first tournament on the Asian Tour, things are looking fairly nice at the moment," said Karjalainen, who secured his Asian Tour card by finishing in 19th place at qualifying school.

Meanwhile, Both continued to pile the pressure on the Finn despite not being able to match up to his first round performance.

"I probably didn't hole as many putts as I did yesterday and there's still some work to do.," said Both.

"I need to sharpen up some of the techniques which my coach and I have been working on and I think I should be okay after that," added the Australian.

The cut was set at two-under with a total of 72 players making it to the weekend rounds.