Rain interrupts Siddikur's start

Bangladesh's ace golfer Siddikur Rahman was in reasonable form before rain interrupted his march during the first round of the Iskandar Johor Open at the Horizon Hills Golf and Country Club in Malaysia yesterday.
Proceedings were called off for the day an hour after lightning stopped play at 4.22pm. No players from the afternoon session finished their rounds, meaning 78 players, among them Siddikur, will return at 7.20 am today to resume play.
The 27-year-old Bangladeshi could only complete 11 holes and had played well enough to be placed joint 14th with a round of three-under-par 41 before play was interrupted by rain.
Siddikur completed the front nine with birdies in the fourth and eighth holes, but bogied in the seventh to go into the back nine with a one-under score. In the back nine, however, he seemed to be hitting a rich vein of form, birdying the tenth and eleventh before rain played spoilsport.
At the top of the table, Joost Luiten of the Netherlands continued excellent form by shooting a scintillating eight-under-par 63 to take the clubhouse lead. Luiten birdied the last hole to steal a one-shot lead over title holder and three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland, Australian Marcus Fraser and Frenchman Gregory Bourdy.
Charlie Wi of Korea, a seven-time winner in the region, led the Asian charge with a 66 to share fifth place with James Morrison of England and Nicolas Meitinger of Germany at the 2-million-dollar event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.x