Alessandro Tadini continued the Italian dominance of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup as he overthrew his compatriot and overnight leader Marco Crespi at the top midway through the second day thanks to a three under par second round of 69.
That score, in much tougher conditions, put the four time European Challenge Tour winner two shots clear of the pack on eight under par at Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club.
The 38 year old flew straight out the blocks with a birdie at the tenth hole, his first, and while a bogey on the 16th meant he reached the turn in level par, three birdies on the way home took him into the outright lead with the afternoon starters still out on the course.
“I played really good today,” said Tadini. “It wasn’t quite as good as yesterday – I missed two very short putts today and my putting in general was so, so – but I'm feeling good.
“I have been here the past three years and I like it a lot. I hope to stay feeling like I am until Sunday. I'm driving it well and not missing any fairways and this is very important for this course.
“The flags were a little more difficult and the conditions are cold so the ball flies less but the greens are also difficult and I expect it to get even harder, with the weather and pin positions.
“I feel like my game is the same as Denmark (where he won the ECCO Tour Championship hosted by Thomas Björn & Mercedes-Benz just three weeks ago) and Switzerland. I was delighted to have a week off last week, I was very tired so I needed to recharge my batteries. I really like the course though.”
England’s Chris Lloyd and Mark Tullo of Chile where in tied second place on six under par after the former signed for a four under par round of 68 while the latter had a disappointing triple bogey finish but still carded a two under 72.
Overnight leader Marco Crespi had a difficult day having led after the opening round, as he struggled to a five over par round of 77 to drop to one under par for the tournament going into the weekend.
