Kuala Lumpur: Amateur Sarfina Seretharan kept her hopes of making a second appearance at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia alive after taking the early lead at the Regional Qualifier on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old returned with a two-over 74 on Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club’s East Course to leave her one shot clear of national player Dianne Luke in the 36-hole contest.

Thailand’s Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul and Universiti Utara Malaysia undergraduate Hillferah Tan were two shots off the pace in the new look regional qualifier which pits players from all nations together in one tournament.

Sarfina ,who is competing in the Qualifier for the second time and qualified to play in 2012, said, “Overall, it was a good round although I wished my putting could have been better with the number of opportunities I had.”

Looking ahead to the final round tomorrow, Sarfina added: “I am going to stick to my game plan for tomorrow as it’s an effective plan obviously. I was in the Sime Darby LPGA Development Programme to prepare for the qualifier. We did a lot on-course practice, short games and course management, so we learned how to plan strategically.”

First round scores (Malaysian unless stated):
74 – Sarfina Seretharan
75 – Dianne Luke
76 – Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul (THA), Hillferah Tan
79 – Winnie Ng, Kellie Kan Kah Yan’
80 – Adithi Ashok (IND), Cindy Lee-Pridgen
83 – Shareen Rena Lai, Nurul Syahirah Nasir
88 – Jessica Ang (SIN)
89 – Janice Ling