The UAE’s Jonathan Selvaraj got off to a quick start at the 30th edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Team Championship, with the reigning Emirates Golf Federation Order of Merit champion posting a two under par 70 in Vietnam.
Selvaraj’s impressive opening round left him in a tie for third following the conclusion of play at Vinpearl Hai Phong, while the UAE are in 11th place in the team standing after Sam Mullane and Ahmad Skaik both carded 78.
Gu Liangliang and Declan O’Donovan lead the way in the individual competition, with China taking a one-stroke lead in the team standings after 18 holes.
“It was not easy conditions so I’m happy with how I played,” said Gu, one of China’s brightest teenage golfing talents, who was a member of the International Team at last month’s Junior Presidents Cup in Canada.
“I struggled a little with my irons, but drove the ball well and chipped and putted well, too.”
Despite swirling breezes that blew many of the 57 participants in the 19-nation event off course, Gu held firm, making pars at each of his final 11 holes.
On a tightly-packed leaderboard in the team event in which the best two daily scores in each three-man team are counted, just two strokes separate the top eight countries.
Find out Selvaraj’s plans for the future here
Bidding to win the Nomura Cup for the first time, the China trio of Gu, Wang Yipu and Wang Haoyi (both of whom returned 73s) leads the way with an aggregate of two-under 142.
Second place on 143 is shared by New Zealand, Japan and hosts Vietnam, for whom Nguyen Anh Minh, the highest-rated player in the field at 84th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, posted a 71.
In joint fifth on even-par 144 are Chinese Taipei, Australia and Hong Kong China with India alone in eighth on 145.
Korea and Thailand are tied for ninth on 147. Korean An Seong-hyeon, the reigning R&A Junior Boys’ champion and APGC Junior Boys’ runner-up, raced into the individual lead after chip-in eagles at the two par-fives on the front nine, but played the final 11 holes in five-over to sign for a 74.
In the 19-nation event, Korea and Thailand are followed in the standings by the United Arab Emirates (148), Malaysia and Singapore (149), the Philippines (152), Pakistan (158), Saudi Arabia (166), Myanmar (167), Mongolia (172) and Guam (173).
