The Thai duo of Natthakritta Vongtaveelap and Suvichaya Vinijchaitham jointly top the leaderboard with Chinese Taipei’s Ting-Hsuan Huang and Korea’s Jiyoo Lim heading into tomorrow's final round of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) at Siam Country Club in Pattaya.

Vongtaveelap birdied the last two holes for a 68 and an eight-under par total of 208, tied with her close friend Vinijchaitham (69), Huang (70) and Lim (72) to set up an exciting final round at Siam Country Club’s Waterside Course.

Philippine’s Rianne Mikhaela Malixi (70) is in fifth place at seven-under-par, while Korea’s Yeji Park, who had the best round of the day with a five-under par 67, jumped to tied sixth place at five-under with Japan’s Mamika Shinchi (70) and Australia's Kelsey Bennett (72).

Defending champion Mizuki Hashimoto’s chances of winning a second straight WAAP title were dented over the back nine. Two ahead of the field after 12 holes, the Japanese player dropped six shots in her last six holes for a round of 77 and is in T9 place on four-under-par. 

Leading the Malaysian challenge is Iowa State University senior Liyana Durisic, who shot an even-par 72 to be in T9 place on four-under-par. 

"It went better than yesterday; I started off with two bogeys in the first nine and over the last six holes I started making birdies, which helped me build up some momentum," said the first round leader, who has played in every WAAP since the championship started in 2018.

"I'll be sticking to the same game plan and aiming to keep it simple, just hitting fairways and greens. I'll be paying more attention to the speed of my putts and hopefully some will sink," added the 21-year-old.

University of North Texas senior Audrey Tan is the next best-placed Malaysian in T12 on three-under-par after siging in a round of 71.

"I was hitting it better today compared to yesterday but I couldn’t sink putts. I feel like I just need to combine the last few days and let the puzzle pieces come together," said the 21-year-old, who is making her second WAAP appearance.

The other four Malaysians in the field are Jeneath Wong (T17, -2), Warda Amira Rawof (T17, -2), Zulaikah Nurziana Nasser (T30, +2) and 14-year-old Ng Jing Xuen (T35, +3), all making their debuts.

The best Malaysian performance is the sixth place achieved by the country's current top woman amateur, Ashley Lau, at last year's championship in Abu Dhabi.

The WAAP was developed by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) and The R&A to nurture talent and provide a pathway for the region’s elite women amateurs to the international stage. The champion will earn starts in the AIG Women's Open, The Amundi Evian Championship and the Hana Financial Group Championship, and will receive an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women's Amateur.

For more information, visit the championship website.

Round 3: Malaysian Scores & Rankings
T9 - 212 (-4) Liyana Durisic 66-74-72
T12 - 213 (-3) Audrey Tan 72-70-71
T17 - 214 (-2) Jeneath Wong 72-70-72, Warda Amira Rawof 70-72-72
T30 - 218 (+2) Zulaikah Nurziana Nasser 69-75-74
T35 - 219 (+3) Ng Jing Xuen 78-70-71