Becierra trails by 3 in Malaysian Amateur

MANILA, Philippines – Dante Becierra matched par 72 to trail Malaysian Idzwan Marappan and Thai Thanyayon Khrongpa by three strokes at the start of the 107 Malaysia Amateur Open Golf Championship at the Sarawak Golf Club in Kuching, Malaysia late Thursday.

Becierra, the former Hong Kong Amateur Open champion trying to snap out of a long slump, held his own against the elite field on the long 7,250-yard layout, finishing two birdies against the same number of birdies as he took the cudgels for the ICTSI-backed bets with that 72 for a share of ninth place in the four-day championship that drew 111 players from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Marappan and Khrongpha took advantage of their early morning start and shot identical 69s to post a one-shot lead over Malaysian Haziq Hamizan and Fei-Hao Yang of Taiwan, who both had 70s.

Local bet Kalana Ibrahim, India’s Gagan Verma, Singapore’s Lam Zhiqun and Thailand’s Vasin Sripattranusorn all carded one-under 71s to stay within striking distance of the joint leaders.

Defending champion Koh Dengshan of Singapore, who won the event in match play format last year, groped for form and finished with a two-over 74, five shots off the pace.