AAC Winners Spring to the Fore at Kasugai Country Club

Kasugai, Aichi, Japan: Three Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winners flexed their muscles on day two of the men’s tournament at the 20th Asian Games.

China’s Ding Wenyi, triumphant in the 2024 AAC in Japan, fired a best-of-the-day six-under-par 64 to earn a share of the half-way lead in the individual standings with Chinese Taipei’s Wang Wei-hsuan.

With matching 36-hole totals of nine-under 131 they hold a one-stroke lead from Japanese duo Kazuki Higa and Keita Nakajima, winner of the AAC in Dubai in 2021.

With daylight fading and temporary floodlights switched on, Nakajima holed a birdie putt on his last hole to complete a bogey-free round.

Meanwhile, reigning AAC winner Pongsapak ‘Fifa’ Laopakdee of Thailand improved on his opening-day 72 by five strokes to climb into a share of 16th place on one-under 139.

On a tightly-packed leaderboard at the Kasugai Country Club’s East Course in Aichi Prefecture, just three strokes separate the leading eight players.

In joint fifth on 133 are Koreans Mun Do-yeob and PGA Tour regular Tom Kim Joo-hyung, the top-rated player in the 66-strong field at 32nd in the Official World Golf Ranking.

A further stroke back in equal seventh are Indian Saptak Talwar and China’s Sampson Zheng Yunhe, who finished joint runner-up with Ding at the 2023 AAC in Australia.

Meanwhile, in the team event in which the best two daily scores in each three-man team are counted, Japan, China and Korea are threatening to pull clear of the field.

Heading into Friday’s penultimate round, Japan leads the way on 16-under 264, courtesy of the efforts of Nakajima and Higa. For the second day in succession, the contribution of Taishi Moto was not required, although his confidence will be boosted by a second-round 68, six strokes better than his day one score.

With Ding in regal form, China is alone in second spot on 265 with Korea a shot further back in third. There is then a three-stroke gap back to Chinese Taipei in fourth with India (273), the Philippines (274), Hong Kong China (275), Indonesia (276), Bangladesh (277) and Thailand (278) rounding out the top-10.

They are followed by Vietnam (281), Singapore (285), Macao China (286), Nepal (289), Sri Lanka (292), Uzbekistan and Qatar (both 297), United Arab Emirates (299), Palestine (324), Kazakhstan (328) and Mongolia (350).

Leading Men’s Individual Scores

131 – Ding Wenyi (China) 67-64; Wang Wei-hsuan (Chinese Taipei) 65-66
132 – Keita Nakajima (Japan) 66-66; Kazuki Higa (Japan) 65-67
133 – Tom Kim Joo-hyung (Korea) 67-66; Mun Do-yeob (Korea) 66-67
134 – Saptak Talwar (India) 66-68; Sampson Zheng Yunhe (China) 66-68
135 – Justin De Los Santos (Philippines) 68-67
136 – Jonathan Wijono (Indonesia) 68-68
137 – Subash Tamang (Nepal) 70-67
138 – Chan Shih-chang (Chinese Taipei) 71-67; Matthew Cheung (Hong Kong China) 68-70; Jin Zihao (China) 70-68; Si Ngai (Macao) 69-69
139 – Pongsapak ‘Fifa’ Laopakdee (Thailand) 72-67; Veer Ahlawat (India) 71-68; Badal Hossein (Bangladesh) 71-68; Taichi Kho (Hong Kong China) 69-70; Kim Seong-hyeon (Korea) 68-71

Selected Scores

140 – Sadom Kaewkanjana (Thailand) 70-70; Miguel Tabuena (Philippines) 70-70; Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) 70-70; Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh) 69-71
141 – Carl Corpus (Philippines) 69-72
142 – Taishi Moto (Japan) 74-68; Nguyen Anh Minh (Vietnam) 71-71
143 – Nguyen Tuan Anh (Vietnam) 69-74

Full Men’s Team Scores

264 – Japan (131-133)
265 – China (133-132)
266 – Korea (133-133)
269 – Chinese Taipei (136-133)
273 – India (137-136)
274 – Philippines (137-137)
275 – Hong Kong China (137-138)
276 – Indonesia (139-137)
277 – Bangladesh (140-137)
278 – Thailand (142-136)
281 – Vietnam (140-141)
285 – Singapore (142-143)
286 – Macao China (144-142)
289 – Nepal (146-143)
292 – Sri Lanka (147-145)
297 – Uzbekistan (149-148); Qatar (148-149)
299 – United Arab Emirates (152-147)
324 – Palestine (169-155)
328 – Kazakhstan (172-156)
350 – Mongolia (174-176)