Jason Hak Shun-yat shot his lowest score so far to move into medal contention at the halfway mark yesterday.
Hak shot a superb five-under-par 67 for a two-round total of three-under 141 at the Dragon Lake Golf Club to catapult up the standings and into joint-fifth place, five shots behind leader Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines, who is on an eight-under 136.
'Jason had a fantastic round with the key being his driving,' head coach Brad Schadewitz said. 'The course is very narrow and the trick is to make sure you drive it well and he was doing that today and playing solidily.
'In second place is South Korea's Kim Meen-whee, one shot behind the leader with an aggregate of 137 while in joint-third are India's precocious star Rashid Khan and Korean Lee Jae-hyeok on 139.
The US-based Hak stunned the professional world two years ago at the UBS Hong Kong Open when he became the youngest golfer, at 17, to make the cut in a European Tour event. Now he is definitely in medal contention.
Unfortunately for Hong Kong, the rest of the local players are not faring as well, crushing any chance of a medal in the team competition, where the best three scores count. Hong Kong had an aggregate 14-over par, a staggering 28 shots behind leaders South Korea.