Singapore lead in W. Cup golf qualifying

Singapore's Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing fired a one-under-par 70 after a poor start on Thursday to top the halfway leaderboard at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup Asian Qualifying. The duo bogeyed three of their opening four holes but bounced back superbly in the difficult foursomes format to open up a three-shot lead over Indians Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri at the Seri Selangor Golf Club. Seventeen two-man teams have teed-up in the qualifiers with the aim of becoming one of three countries to join top golfers at the 28-nation biennial contest, which will take place November 24-27 at Hainan Island in China. Mardan and Lam bogeyed one, two and four before recovering with birdies at the fifth and sixth. "We were a bit messy in the first few holes but overall it was okay," said Mardan, a two-time Asian Tour winner. "We have to keep doing what we have been doing. We are playing very well and our mission is to get the job done." Lam was delighted to extend Singapore's lead in a round where only four teams returned an under-par score. Foursomes is considered a difficult team game as it depends on players playing alternate shots with the same ball. "We knew this format wasn't easy and we told each other we could get more birdies out there. I told Mardan not to worry (after the early bogeys) and that we would bounce back," said Lam, who qualified for the World Cup with Mardan at in 2006 and 2009. India's Bhullar and Lahiri, teaming up for the first time, battled to an impressive 69 for a 136 total to lie in second place while Kim Hyung-sung and Park Sung-joon of Korea, who also shot 69, are three shots back in third. Unheralded Anura Rohana and Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka posted a second consecutive 70 to lie in tied fourth with New Zealand's Michael Hendry and Gareth Paddison on 140. The home team of Iain Steel and Shaaban Hussin slumped to a 77 in tough scoring conditions and will have an uphill task of closing an eight-shot gap on the leaders. Second round totals, after foursomes played on Thursday. Par 71 133 - Singapore (LAM Chih-Bing, Mardan Mamat) 63-70 136 - India (Gaganjeet Bhullar, Anirban Lahiri) 67-69 139 - Korea (Kim Hyung-Sung, Park Sung-Joon) 70-69 140 - Sri Lanka (Anura Rohana, Mithun Perera) 70-70, New Zealand (Michael Hendry, Gareth Paddison) 65-75 141 - Malaysia (Iain Steel, Shaaban Hussin) 64-77 143 - Philippines (Mars Pucay, Antonio Lascuna) 70-73 144 - Pakistan (Muhammad Munir Pak, Mohd Shabbir Iqbal) 68-76 147 - Taiwan (Tseng Hua Yen, Lin Kuan Po) 68-79 148 - Indonesia (Burhan Bora, Hardjito) 73-75 150 - Myanmar (Zaw Moe, Nay Bala Win Myint) 66-84 151 - Hong Kong (Wong Woon-Man, William Fung) 73-78 153 - Ghana (Stephen Kwame Klah, Godwin Sai) 77-76 154 - Vietnam (Michael Tran, Nguyen Thai Duong) 76-78 157 - Senegal (Gueye Diadji, Niang Samba) 74-83 161 - Brunei (Pengiran Hassanal, Moksin Jinaidi) 78-83