INQUIRER Sports

SINGAPORE—Malaysia's Danny Chia, Angelo Que of the Philippines and England's Yasin Ali took a big step towards the British Open after firing three-under-par 69s in the Asian qualifying tournament on Tuesday.

Chia sank six birdies against three bogeys at the Sentosa Golf Club's Serapong course while Que enjoyed five birdies in a strong start to the two-day event.

Big-hitting Ali was poised for the sole lead as he stood on the 18th tee at five-under but found water with an errant drive which led to a double bogey.

Filipino Antonio Lascuna, Ben Leong of Malaysia and Japanese duo Tomohiro Kondo and Keiichiro Fukabori shot 70 to stay in the hunt for the four tickets at stake to the Open at Royal Birkdale, England in July.

Chia is bidding for a second appearance at The Open and gave himself every chance with a solid ball-striking display.

"I'm quite pleased with the way I'm hitting the ball. There were some tough pins out there but on the overall, I'm happy," he said.

Ali was disappointed to lose his grip on the lead at the challenging par-five 18th hole, which has water stretching all the way on the left of the hole.

"If I can keep out of the water, I should be okay. On the last hole, the wind was coming off the left and I tried to bite off a bit more than I could chew on the tee shot and pulled it," said Ali.

Fukabori, a Japan Tour regular, holed a superb nine iron approach from 154 yards on the sixth hole for an eagle two to stay in the chase.

"I was lucky that it went in the hole. It pitched seven yards from the pin and rolled in," said the Japanese star, who has played the Open three times.

Malaysia's Leong sank an ace at the second hole with a seven iron en route to a 70 to give himself a fighting chance. But like many others, he also faltered down the stretch with two closing bogeys.

"It was a bit disappointing but I'm still in the game," said Leong, winner of the Asian Tour Qualifying School for the past two seasons.