SINGAPORE?The little man showed a big heart and kept Philippine hopes alive in the 48th Putra Cup.

Outdriven all day by Singapore?s biggest star, Jonel Ababa gutted out a one-under-par 70 Wednesday as the Filipinos, though losing some ground, stayed in second place and well within striking distance of the hosts going into the final 36 holes.

Tonlits Asistio also played solidly and contributed a 71 while Ferdinand Aunzo added a 72 that gave the Filipinos a 213 total for the day and 422 at the halfway point of Southeast Asia?s official team championship at the soggy Bukit course of the Singapore Island Country Club here.

The 5-foot-1 Ababa engaged burly local hero Choo Tze Huang in a duel to remember and picked up the slack for the Filipinos, who are bidding to end a 12-year title drought here.

Only a 60-foot putt for eagle on the 15th by Choo prevented Ababa from matching the Singaporean?s 69, which paced the 210 tally by the hosts for the day and 416 overall after Jerome Ng contributed a 70 and Quincy Quek a 71.

Singapore, the 2006 champion in Papua New Guinea, now has a six-shot lead over the Filipinos from three at the start of the day.

Jonathan Leong and Rufino Bayron, who fired 68s to pace their teams on Tuesday, failed to count for Singapore and the Philippines after returning a 73 and a 76, respectively.

?Their (Singaporeans?) familiarity with the course is coming to play,? Ababa, a product of the National Caddies? Open program, said in Filipino. ?We are having difficulty reading the greens and it has been our downfall in the first two rounds.?

It was lift, clean and place on Wednesday and players needed nearly nine hours to finish their rounds as heavy rains and lightning halted play at mid-morning.

?We have been struggling because we kept on misreading the greens,? Asistio, the 19-year-old former age-group ace, said. ?But we?re looking forward to the final two rounds because it now boils down to match play.?

Flights will now be determined according to score, meaning that the Singaporeans will have no one but Filipinos and Myanmar players as company in their flights, at least for Thursday?s third round.

Myanmar churned out a day-best 209 built around the 70 of Bo Bo Lay and the 71 of Soe Moe Win to jump to third place with a 425 total, two ahead of struggling defending champion Thailand.

The Thais were only good for a 215 with Tanyakorn Krongpha leading the scoring with a 70.