Miyazaki, Japan: Oh Soo-min and Jung Min-seo sprang to the fore as Korea cruised ominously to the top of the leaderboard at the half-way stage of the 45th Queen Sirikit Cup.

Oh, the defending individual champion and the tournament’s top-ranked player, followed her opening 69 with a sparkling five-under-par 67 on the Tom Watson Golf Course at the Phoenix Seagaia Resort.

Also taking advantage of the ideal scoring conditions was Jung, who improved on her first-round 74 by eight strokes, matching China’s Zhou Shiyuan for the best round of the day.

In the event in which the best two daily scores from each of the 13 three-player teams are counted, Korea posted a formidable second-round aggregate of 11-under 133.

Hong Su-min, the third member of the powerful Korean team that is bidding for a 24th victory in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Ladies Golf Team Championship, carded a 71 but with Oh and Jung in such good form her score was not needed.

With a 36-hole total of 16-under 272, the Koreans will take a six-stroke lead from overnight pace-setters Japan into Thursday’s penultimate round.

Thanks largely to Zhou’s 66, China soared into third place on 284 followed by Thailand (285), India (290), Hong Kong, China (292), Indonesia (293), Singapore (294), Chinese Taipei and Australia (both 298), Malaysia (300). Vietnam (307) and the Philippines (314).

In the individual stakes, Oh leads the way on eight-under 136 – four in front of Jung and Japan’s Aira Nagasawa with Zhou, Thai Prim Prachnakorn and Korean Hong a further shot back in equal fourth.

The only other players under par are Japan’s Anna Iwanaga (142) and China’s Liu Yujie and Singaporean Jaymie Ng (both 143).

Runner-up in the 2025 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in Vietnam in March and 10th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), 16-year-old Oh will be tough to beat.

An eagle three at the 480-yard, par-five first hole set the tone for Oh’s second round. She added five further birdies and had just two bogeys.

Oh said: “An eagle on the first hole was a great start. Just like yesterday, my shots were good today. I missed a few short putts, which was unfortunate, but overall I'm satisfied with five-under.

“This course has a lot of trees, so it’s hard to avoid them. I want to stay focused and do my best.”

By her own admission, Jung was not at her best on day one when her score was discarded in the team event. But with seven birdies against a solitary dropped shot on Wednesday, she made amends

She said: “Yesterday, my mental game was unstable and my shots were all over the place. Today, I felt more mentally steady and was able to stay focused, which I think led to a good score.”

Runners-up on all three previous occasions that they’ve hosted the Queen Sirikit Cup, Japan remained in contention thanks to a 69 from Mamika Shinchi and a 71 from Nagasawa.

Reflecting on her round, Nagasawa said: “I'm happy I was able to finish under par today. I made some big mistakes yesterday, but today I managed to avoid those. Even though my score was better yesterday (69), my overall golf was better today. I'll do my best tomorrow to contribute to the team."

Full Second Round Team Scores

272 – Korea (139-133)
278 – Japan (138-140)
284 – China (146-138)
285 – Thailand (143-142)
290 – India (149-141)
292 – Hong Kong, China (147-145)
293 – Indonesia (150-143)
294 – Singapore (147-147)
298 – Chinese Taipei (151-147); Australia (150-148)
300 – Malaysia (151-149)
307 – Vietnam (149-158)
314 – Philippines (158-156)

Full Second Round Individual Scores

136 – Oh Soo-min (Korea) 69-67
140 – Jung Min-seo (Korea) 74-66; Aira Nagasawa (Japan) 69-71
141 – Zhou Shiyuan (China) 75-66; Prim Prachnakorn (Thailand) 71-70; Hong Su-min (Korea) 70-71
142 – Anna Iwanaga (Japan) 69-73
143 – Liu Yujie (China) 71-72; Jaymie Ng (Singapore) 70-73
144 – Zara Anand (India) 73-71; Thitikarn Thapasit (Thailand) 72-72
145 – Mamika Shinchi (Japan) 76-69; Elin Wang (Hong Kong, China) 74-71; Bianca Naomi Laksono (Indonesia) 72-73
147 – Mannat Brar (India) 77-70; Sophie Han (Hong Kong, China) 73-74; Jazy Roberts (Australia) 71-76
149 – Xin Yao Wang (Malaysia) 79-70; Wu Shuang (Chinese Taipei) 77-72; Sabrina Wong (Hong Kong, China) 75-74
150 – Hsieh Ping-hua (Chinese Taipei) 74-76
151 – Rachel Lee (Australia) 79-72; Chen Xingtong (Singapore) 77-74; 75 – Xu Ying (China) 75-76; Hee Jie Piang (Malaysia) 72-79
152 – Achiraya Sriwong (Thailand) 76-76
153 – Thea Jessica Tan (Indonesia) 83-70
154 – Heena Kang (India) 76-78; Nguyen Vu Hoang Anh (Vietnam) 76-78
155 – Chang Ting-yu (Chinese Taipei) 80-75; Grace Quintanilla (Philippines) 77-78
158 – Caithlyn Ong (Indonesia) 78-80
161 – 83 –Sarah Hammett (Australia) 83-78; Lisa Sarines (Philippines) 83-78; Reese Allyson Ng (Philippines) 81-80; Anna Le (Vietnam) 73-88
162 – Arena Tran (Vietnam) 82-80
166 – Adrianna Prewa Sim (Malaysia) 82-84
WD – Sydnie Ng (Singapore)