Chiba, April 2 -- India's Karandeep Kochhar fought his way into the top ten of the leaderboard courtesy of a solid 4-under 67 after the first round at the US$ 2 million International Series Japan. Kochhar lies three shots behind the leader, Korean Hongtaek Kim, who led the way on the opening day after shooting a fine seven-under 64.

Kochhar's start today was as sedate as they come. Teeing off from the 10th, he made nine consecutive pars through his first nine holes - his round coming to life after the turn, with four birdies in the 1st, 4th, 6th and 8th holes, according to a press release.

Meanwhile, Jeev Milkha Singh (T-85) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (T-103) shot rounds of 1-over 72 and 2-over 73, respectively, and have a bit of work to do ...