Birdie Blitz Sees Vietnam's Ho Surge into Contention

Tokyo, Japan: Vietnam’s Ho Anh Huy produced a barnstorming birdie barrage to soar into contention after the second round at the fifth edition of The Royal Junior.

Anh Huy followed up his opening-day 79 with a remarkable five-under-par 67 at The Royal Club, a round that included no fewer than nine birdies.

Thanks to that effort he will head into Sunday’s final round in a share of second place with Thailand’s Parin Sarasmut – just one shot behind pace-setting Mao Matsuyama of Japan.

On a fabulous day for the Vietnamese contingent, Nguyen Tuan Anh and Le Khanh Hung also worked their way into contention.

Despite dropping late shots, Tuan Anh posted a one-over 73 and is in a tie for eighth place on 149 while Khanh Hung signed for a 70 and is joint 13th on 151. Khanh Hung and Anh Huy were part of the Vietnam team that created history in late 2024 when they helped their country to a first victory in the Asia-Pacific Men’s Amateur Team Championship for the Nomura Cup.

Both were in inspired form today, improving on their first-round efforts by 12 and 11 shots respectively, having acclimatised to the time difference and course conditions.

While Anh Huy’s eventful round included four bogeys and five pars to go along with his nine birdies, leader Matsuyama had another steady display, adding a 73 to his first-day 72.

Among a quartet of players in a share of fourth place on 148 are the Japanese trio of Kotaro Ogawa, Ryoma Nakaue and Taisei Nagasaki, runner-up at last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, and Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Cheng-wei who improved on his opening 79 by 10 strokes.

In the Girls’ category, Akane Motomura followed up a 69 on Friday with a one-under 71 today to extend her advantage at the top of the leaderboard to four strokes from fellow-Japanese Uno Neda.

There is then a four-shot gap back to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Jie-en, Japan’s Mikuru Fukuda and Korean Kim Yeon-seo in equal third spot.

Organised by Nippon Kabaya Ohayo Holdings Inc and approved by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) and The R&A, The Royal Junior is also supported by the Japan Golf Association, Japan High School and Junior High School Golf Association.

With the aim of nurturing and developing the next generation of international golfers, the tournament includes 37 boys and 38 girls. The top players outside of Japan are selected by the APGC. All players must be under the age of 18 years old as of March 31, 2026.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND SCORES, BOYS

145 – Mao Matsuyama (Japan) 72-73
146 – Ho Anh Huy (Vietnam) 79-67; Parin Sarasmut (Thailand) 75-71
148 – Hsieh Cheng-wei (Chinese Taipei) 79-69; Kotaro Ogawa (Japan) 75-73; Ryoma Nakaue (Japan) 73-75; Taisei Nagasaki (Japan) 72-76
149 – Naoki Kaminaga (Japan) 78-71; Nguyen Tuan Anh (Vietnam) 76-73
150 – Takeru Michiue (Japan) 77-73; Sota Tomura (Japan) 76-74; Logan Kim (Korea) 76-74 

LEADING SECOND-ROUND SCORES, GIRLS

140 – Akane Motomura (Japan) 69-71
144 – Uno Neda (Japan) 72-72
148 – Lin Jie-en (Chinese Taipei) 77-71; Mikuru Fukuda (Japan) 76-72; Kim Yeon-seo (Korea) 73-75
149 – Chen Xingtong (Singapore) 74-75
150 – Momoka Nakagoshi (Japan) 78-72; Cocoro Hirayama (Japan) 74-76
151 – Kanari Matsushita (Japan) 75-76