Andrew Dodt extended his lead at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open to three shots on another tough day for scoring at Four Seasons Golf Club at Anahita.
The Australian came into the second round with a two-shot advantage after a brilliant opening 66 and added a 70 to move to eight under and establish a cushion over last week's winner Jeunghun Wang.
Blustery conditions at the Ernie Els-designed layout on the Mauritian east coast made any score under par very valuable indeed, and Wang's 70 proved to be one of the best rounds of the morning.
Siddikur Rahman posted a level par 72 to remain four under and he was joined there in the afternoon by Nicolas Colsaerts, who signed for the lowest round of the week so far, a brilliant 65.
The big-hitting Belgian is attached to the Four Seasons and bucked the scoring trend to record nine birdies and two bogeys and sit two shots ahead of England's Ross McGowan, who had a 67.
Wang had briefly moved ahead of Dodt in the morning but when the Australian birdied the seventh to turn in 35, he had a two-shot lead.
Another birdie on the tenth was followed by a chip-in on the 12th and the two-time European Tour winner looked like he was going to run away with it before he went out of bounds off the 13th tee and surrendered a double-bogey seven.
He birdied the 14th but then dropped another shot after finding sand off the tee on the next before hitting the last green in two for a closing birdie.
I'm trying to embrace the challenge and enjoy the conditions and have fun, rather than trying to hold on and be defensive - Andrew Dodt
"You've got to be as tough as you can and miss in the right spots. I didn't strike the ball as well as I did yesterday, but I missed in the right areas, where I could still get up and down. That was the key.
"The chip-in on the 12th was a lovely shot. It came out a little harder than I would've liked but luckily it hit the hole dead centre. I lost my concentration on the next hole, though, which sometimes happens when you make a birdie.
"I've always been a pretty good wind player, so I feel really comfortable in these conditions."
South Korean Wang claimed a maiden European Tour win at the Trophée Hassan II and has brought that form with him to the Indian Ocean.
The 20 year old went birdie-eagle-birdie from the 12th to catapult himself up the leaderboard but bogeys on the 15th, third and sixth stalled his momentum before a bounce-back birdie on the seventh.
Bangladesh's Rahman twice quickly bounced back from dropped shots with birdies in his 72 and that had him alongside Colsaerts, who got off to a blistering start with birdies on the second, third, fifth, sixth and eighth.
He drove over the green on the ninth but had to settle for a par and bogeyed the next but bounced back with three straight birdies before bogeying the 16th and picking the shot back up on the last.
McGowan had seven birdies and two bogeys as he moved a shot clear of South Africans Jaco Ahlers, Ruan de Smidt, Hennie Otto and Jaco Van Zyl, with just nine players under par.
