Golf 

Nguyễn Anh Minh maintains his peak form at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Team Championship. Photos courtesy of VGA

HẢI PHÒNG — Host golfers Lê Khánh Hưng and Nguyễn Anh Minh produced outstanding performances to push Việt Nam to the top of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Team Championship – Nomura Cup after three rounds on Thursday in Hải Phòng.

On a tense day at the Vinpearl Golf Hải Phòng, the Vietnamese teenagers both bettered par to take the hosts to the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round – and within sight of their first Nomura Cup title win in just their second appearance in the tournament.

Thanks to returns of 69 from Hưng and 71 from Minh, Việt Nam posted a team score of 4-under 140 in which the best two daily scores in each three-man team were counted. 

With the team's aggregate of 12-under 420, Việt Nam led by one from second-round pace-setters and defending champions Japan.

There is then a four-stroke gap back to New Zealand in third, with Korea fourth on 427. 

In the individual standings, it was Minh who led the way. Following a third successive sub-par return, he has a 54-hole total of seven-under 209.

That’s one shot in front of New Zealand’s Robby Turnbull, with Australian Declan O’Donovan in third place on 212. 

Lê Khánh Hưng storms to the tournament's top four with his score of 3-under 69 in the third round of the Nomura Cup.

One stroke further back was Hưng, who shared fourth place with Malaysian Anson Yeo and the Japanese trio of Masayuki Yamashita, Takumi Kobayashi and Taishi Moto.

Minh, who stands at No 84 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking league, is the highest-rated player in the field, made another solid round, comprising two birdies and a solitary dropped shot, a three-putt bogey on 10.

“My strategy for the last round will remain the same – try and keep it in play and hit as many greens as I can. I have to stay in the present. I can’t do more than that," the 17-year-old said. “My teammates are doing really well and we’re looking forward to an exciting final day. We’ll be very proud if Việt Nam is the winner.”

The Nomura Cup's inaugural event was held in 1963, as a tri-nation tournament in the Philippines, when the host nation took on Japan and Chinese Taipei.

This year tournament feature 19 teams and is held over four days, with 18 holes of stroke play on each day. It has been dominated by Australia, who have won the Cup 10 times and Japan, who are seven-time winners.

The winning team receive the Nomura Cup, which was named after Shun Nomura, the former Vice-President of the Japan Golf Association who donated the Cup. This event also has an individual champion. VNS