SENAI, Malaysia - Oct. 1, 2004 - Myanmar took control of the World Cup Qualifier today after an impressive three-under-par 69 in the second round's Foursomes on Friday.
Veteran Kyi Hla Han and Soe Kyaw Naing combined effectively to shoot four birdies against a lone bogey at Palm Resort Golf and Country Club to lead by one stroke from Chinese Taipei's Lu Wei-chih and Wang Ter-chang, who returned a 71 that included a triple bogey.
The Indian team of Rahil Gangjee, Amandeep Johl, who displayed a fine performance on Thursday, lost the edge on Friday. They are now sharing the sixth place with Korea on 141 after matching rounds of 74s, while Switzerland were eighth after a 75.
Thailand's Boonchu Ruangkit and Thaworn Wiratchant bogeyed their last hole for a 72 and third place, four behind the leaders. The top three finishers on Sunday will qualify for the US$4 million WGC-World Cup in Seville in November.
The Foursomes (alternate shot) format proved demanding on home side Malaysia as overnight leaders Danny Chia and R. Nachimuthu stumbled to a 77 for equal fourth place with Pakistan. Pakistan, unlike neighbors India, upped their show finishing on 74.
Han, a veteran of four World Cup appearances, and Soe kept away from trouble throughout their round and birdied the first, fourth, 12th and 16th holes. A four-foot miss by Soe on sixth was the only blemish.
"It was a solid day," said Han, Asia's number one in 1999. "We both have the same type of game and complemented each other well. If I'm weak in a certain area, Soe is strong and that's worked in our favor.
"We played really good coming in and in fact missed a few birdie opportunities including a short one on 18. The course was playing tough and long and I just told Soe to play it steadily. He was solid and created a few chances with some nice approach shots and holed a 40-footer for birdie on 12," said Han, whose team has a two-day total of nine-under-par 135.
The Chinese Taipei side could have been the halfway leader if not for an errant drive by newcomer Lu. He hooked his tee shot on 16 out of bounds and ran up a seven.
"We were going quite nicely until that poor drive," moaned Lu. "We only missed three fairways and never put the other partner under any pressure."
The 43-year-old Wang was delighted with Lu's contribution despite the error. He said they bounced back strongly to birdie the 18th when Lu blasted out from the greenside bunker to seven feet for Wang to convert the birdie putt. "Our partnership was good and we are now in a good position after two rounds," said Wang.
Thaworn was furious with himself after costing his team one shot at the last hole, a par five. Boonchu's second shot found the greenside trap but Thaworn, winner of the recent Mercuries Taiwan Masters on the Asian Tour, needed two strokes to get out.
"Some of the pins were in tough spots and we had to play hard. We both played nicely but Thaworn was in trouble on 18 and we dropped one stroke there," said Boonchu, the reigning Thai Open champion.
The Malaysian duo failed to find fairways and greens in regulation regularly as they soared to a five-over round. They dropped two bogeys in the first three holes and made only one birdie all day.
"It was real battle. The whole day, we didn't feel comfortable at all. I would put Nachi under pressure with a poor shot and it was the other way around as well. On the front nine, we scrambled to save some pars but it was hard work," said Chia, who is chasing his third World Cup appearance.
Debutant Nachimuthu, the country's former amateur number one, said they must narrow their five-shot gap with the leaders after tomorrow's Fourball (better ball). "We need to remain in touching distance for a top three place. Another 63 like our first round would be nice," said Nachimuthu, who headed straight to the practice range with his partner.
Second Round Scores – Foursomes
135: Myanmar (Kyi Hla Han, Soe Kyaw Naing) 66-69
136: Chinese Taipei (Wang Ter-chang, Lu Wei-chih) 65-71
139: Thailand (Boonchu Ruangkit, Thaworn Wiratchant) 67-72
140: Pakistan (Matloob Ahmed, Muhammad Shabbir ) 66-74, Malaysia (Danny Chia, R. Nachimuthu) 63-77
141: Korea (Kim Dae-sub, Shin Yong-jin) 67-74, India (Rahil Gangjee, Amandeep Johl) 67-74
142: Switzerland (Marc Chatelain, Ronnie Zimmermann) 67-75
143: Sri Lanka (Nandasena Perera, Anura Rohana) 68-75, Holland (Neils Kraay, Guido Van Der Valk) 68-75
144: Hong Kong (Derek Fung, James Stewart) 71-73, Finland (Jaakko Makitalo, Thomas Sundstrom) 67-77
145: Guam (Mike Castro, Lon Lindsey) 72-73, Philippines Angelo Que, Gerald Rosales) 71-74, China (Shang Lei, Xiao Jian-cheng) 70-75
147: Singapore (Poh Eng Wah, M. Murugiah) 71-76
149: Mauritius (Billy Narraina, Vishnoo Seeneevassen) 72-77
155: Fiji (Firoz Khan, Inoke Bolakoro) 77-78
