Singapore: Meticulous preparation and planning is paying off for Korea at the 31st women's World Amateur Team Championships.

With Oh Soo-min and Sung Ai-jin to the fore, Korea posted a second-round aggregate of six-under 138 at Tanah Merah Country Club’s Tampines Course.

That brought the team total to 13-under 275 for the championship, securing the defending Espirito Santo Trophy champions a two-stroke lead through 36 holes. Spain and the United States of America are tied for second, two strokes back at 11-under.

Also in contention at the half-way stage are China in fourth place on 281, Japan (sixth on 283) and Australia (ninth on 286).

In the event in which the beat two daily scores in each team of three are counted, Oh and Sung combined for eight birdies and just two bogeys on day two, each finishing with three-under 69s. Oh, runner-up at this year’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific, continues to lead the way for Korea, as she sits tied first individually with Japan’s Aira Nagasawa at seven-under.

“Both yesterday and today, the play was okay. I’m satisfied with everything that I actually planned,” said Oh, who finished third in the 2024 Singapore Women’s Open, which was also contested at Tanah Merah. “I never thought about how useful playing the Singapore Women’s Open was. One thing is for sure, it’s helped psychologically. It’s comforting to know that I know this course.”

Won Ko-sang, Director of High Performance at the Korea Golf Association, said: “I’m happy – not because of their scores, but because of their management and performance. Luckily, we are leading, but nobody knows what will happen in the third and fourth round. We’ll continue to do what we have planned. I’m happy that the girls are doing really well as they planned and prepared.”

Spain’s Paula Martín Sampedro surged on Thursday morning, recording the low round of the day and matching the low round of the championship with a five-under 67.

“This is a challenging golf course and giving yourself really good birdie chances is not that easy,” said Martín Sampedro, who won the European Girls’ Team Championship alongside her Espirito Santo team-mates this summer. “I was hitting the ball well, and I think the key part today was that I was able to make some putts.”

Martín Sampedro, who also won The R&A’s Women’s Amateur this summer, tallied seven birdies in the second round, bogeying one of the par-threes on each nine (six and 14). Andrea Revuelta and Carolina López-Chacarra each posted one-under 71s, bringing the team’s total for the day to six-under.

“I’ve brought a team that plays really steady from tee to green,” said Álvaro Salto, Spain’s coach this week. “We are not used to this type of grass, but they got used to it quite fast, so I’m quite surprised and happy at the same time.”

Catherine Park carded a four-under 68 to help the US to a three-under finish on day two and stay in a share of second, recording four birdies and an eagle after chipping in on the par-five 18th.

“I would say the length has actually not been that bad. I’ve been having a lot of wedges in, so I have been sticking [shots close] a lot,” said Park, who was the first alternate for USA and joined the team following Kiara Romero’s withdrawal.

Team-mates Farah O’Keefe and Megha Ganne struggled on Thursday morning, the former recording a counting score of 73. Ganne recorded a triple-bogey on the par-five fifth en route to a three-over 75. Only the two best daily scores from each team count toward the total.

Host country Singapore continues to be led by 16-year-old Chen Xingtong, who carded an even-par 72 and sits tied eighth individually. As a team, Singapore posted a one-under 143 thanks to Valencia Chang’s 71 in round two. Inez Ng carded a non-counting even-par 72.

Chang said: “I was definitely more confident with my shots. I was just seeing the target very clearly, and I had [coach] Murray [Smit] with me most of the time, so I was just more confident than yesterday.”

One of the day’s standout performances came from Hong Kong, China’s Sabrina Wong. The second-youngest competitor and one of two 13-year-olds in the field, Wong posted a three-under 69 on day two, leading her country to solo-10th place after round two.

The championship sustained a one-hour and 42-minute suspension due to dangerous weather in the area, and the second round was completed under Tanah Merah’s on-course lighting.

Leading Team Scores

275 – Korea 137-138 (Oh Soo-min 68-69; Park Seo-jin 69-73; Sung Ai-jin 75-69)
277 – Spain 139-138 Paula Martin Sampredro 71-67; Andrea Revuelta (Spain) 68-71; Carolina López-Chacarra 71-71); United States 136-141 (Catherine Park 71-68; Farah O’Keefe 67-73; Megha Ganne 69-75)
281 – China 141-140 (Xu Ying 70-70; Zhou Shiyuan 71-70; Ren Yijia 74-70)
282 – England 141-141 (Annabel Peaford 72-69; Nellie Ong 69-74; Patience Rhodes 73-72)
283 – Japan 142-141 (Aira Nagasawa 68-69; Mamika Shinchi 75-72; Anna Iwanaga 74-75)
284 – Sweden 144-140 (Meja Ortengren 70-71; Moa Svedenskiold 74-69; Kajsolatta Svarvar 77-74)
285 – Canada 142-143 (Lauren Kim 73-70; Michelle Xing 72-73; Vanessa Borovilos 70-76)
286 – Australia 147-139 (Ella Scaysbrook 73-68; Raegan Denton 74-71; Jazy Roberts 74-72)
287 – France 145-142 (Valentine Delon 74-68; Sara Brentcheneff 71-74; Constance Fouillet 79-75); Hong Kong, China 145-142 (Sabrina Wong 74-69; Elin Wang 71-73; Leung Hei-tung 76-77); Denmark 144-143 (Marie Madsen 73-71; Benedicte Brent-Petersen 72-72; Emma Bunch 72-75)

Selected Team Scores

289 – Thailand 142-147 (Kritchanya Kaopattanaskul 71-72; Prim Prachnakorn 71-75; Pimpisa Rubrong 77-77)
290 – New Zealand 150-140 (Eunseo Choi 73-69; Vivian Lu 77-71; Emma Zheng 87-82); Malaysia 148-142 (Jeneath Wong 73-71; Zi Yu Foong 75-71; Charlayne Chong 78-78); Singapore 147-143 (Chen Xingtong 69-72; Valencia Chang 78-71; Inez Ng 79-72)
292 – Chinese Taipei 148-144 (Chun Liao-hsin 73-72; Hsu Huai-chien 76-72; Chen Yu-chu 75-81)
293 – Philippines 145-148 (Rianne Malixi 70-72; Grace Pauline Quintanilla 75-76; Junia Gabasa 76-76)
312 – Vietnam 156-156 (Chuc An Le 79-73; Le Nguyen Minh Anh 77-83; Arena Tran 85-86)
341 – Guam 176-165 (Tyanna Jacot 84-82; Nalathai Vongjalorn 92-83; Mina Manibusan 93-91)

Leading Individual Scores

137 – Oh Soo-min (Korea) 68-69; Aira Nagasawa (Japan) 68-69
138 – Paula Martin Sampredro (Spain) 71-67
139 – Catherine Park (US) 71-68; Andrea Revuelta (Spain) 68-71
140 – Xu Ying (China) 70-70; Farah O’Keefe (US) 67-73
141 – Ella Scaysbrook (Australia) 73-68; Annabel Peaford (England) 72-69; Zhou Shiyuan (China) 71-70; Meja Ortengren (Sweden) 70-71; Chen Xingtong (Singapore) 69-72

Selected Individual Scores

142 – Eunseo Choi (New Zealand) 73-69; Carolina López-Chacarra (Spain) 71-71; Rianne Malixi (Philippines) 70-72; Park Seo-jin (Korea) 69-73
143 – Sabrina Wong (Hong Kong, China) 74-69; Kritchanya Kaopattanaskul (Thailand) 71-72
144 – Sung Ai-jin (Korea) 75-69; Ren Yijia (China) 74-70; Jeneath Wong (Malaysia) 73-71; Elin Wang (Hong Kong, China) 71-73; Megha Ganne (US) 69-75
145 – Raegan Denton (Australia) 74-71; Chun Liao-hsin (Chinese Taipei) 73-72
146 – Zi Yu Foong (Malaysia) 75-71; Jazy Roberts (Australia) 74-72; Prim Prachnakorn (Thailand) 71-75
147 – Mamika Shinchi (Japan) 75-72
148 – Vivian Lu (New Zealand) 77-71; Hsu Huai-chien (Chinese Taipei) 76-72 
149 – Valencia Chang (Singapore) 78-71; Anna Iwanaga (Japan) 74-75
151 – Inez Ng (Singapore) 79-72; Grace Pauline Quintanilla (Philippines) 75-76
152 – Chuc An Le (Vietnam) 79-73; Junie Gabasa (Philippines) 76-76
153 – Leung Hei-tung (Hong Kong, China) 76-77
154 – Pimpisa Rubrong (Thailand) 77-77
156 – Charlayne Chong (Malaysia) 78-78; Chen Yu-chu (Chinese Taipei) 75-81
160 – Le Nguyen Minh Anh (Vietnam) 77-83
166 – Tyanna Jacot (Guam) 84-82
169 – Emma Zheng (New Zealand) 87-82
171 – Arena Tran (Vietnam) 85-86
175 – Nalathai Vongjalorn (Guam) 92-83
184 – Mina Manibusan (Guam) 93-91