Ipoh (PERAK): Mohd Wafiyuddin Abdul Manaf stormed into contention at the Malaysian Amateur Open, firing a splendid four-under 68 to move within two shots off the lead at Royal Perak Golf Club on Friday.

The 23-year-old national, who is the top-ranked Malaysian in the field, recovered from a poor opening 76 with the tournament’s best round so far to take a share of seventh with three others on even-par 144.

Young guns Solomon Emilio Rosidin and Low Khai Jei continued to trail the leading trio comprising of Singapore’s Marc Ong (70) as well as Australian duo Jake Mcleod (71) and Cory Crawford by one shot after carding matching 71s.

Riding on his good form coming into the tournament, Wafiyuddin shrugged off his sluggish start in the competition with a card featuring five birdies and  a single bogey.

“I actually felt very confident and kept to my game plan despite the blip yesterday. The greens are running a little faster this week than when we played the North Malaysian Amateur Open a fortnight ago but I fancy that,” said the Universiti Utara Malaysia undergraduate, who finished runner-up at that event.

“I started off a bit shaky with two birdies with a bogey on the first nine and had to dig deep to save par on a couple of holes. But it raised my self-belief  and I kept it flawless on the inward nine with three birdies,” added Waifyuddin, sharing that he wants to be a little more aggressive on the par-fives over the weekend.

Local favourite Low, on the other hand, continued to rue his luck on the short stuff as he tries to claim the national amateur title in his home state. “I started pretty well, making the turn on one-under but pulled my drive on the second into the trees and conceded a bogey. Luckily, I managed to birdie the last, which keeps me in contention.”

“I stuck to my safety-first routine and that left me with some long putts, which I didn’t manage to convert. So, obviously I need to attack the pins a lot more tomorrow if I want to move ahead,” added the 18-year-old former national junior champion, who did not want to place any pressure on himself.