Thai leads as thunder strikes

Canizares: Clubhouse lead

Second round leaders:

-9 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) (14)
-8 A Canizares (Spa)
-7 S Hansen (Den)
-7 A Que (Phi)
-7 KJ Choi (S Kor) (16)
-7 I Garrido (Spa) (16)
-7 R Davies (Wal) (11)
-7 D-H Kim (S Kor) (9)

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Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat stood at the top of the leaderboard at the end of day two at the weather-hit Malaysian Open.

Aphibarnrat was five under par for the day and nine under for the tournament through 14 holes when play was suspended for the day after a thunderstorm had brought play to a halt earlier in the afternoon.

Starting on the 10th, the 20-year-old chipped in from 30-yards for an eagle three on the par-5 fifth, his final hole of the day, before bad light stopped play after more than two hours were lost because of storms.

World number 442 Alejandro Canizares set the clubhouse lead one shot behind following a round of 69 while a group of six players are a further stroke back.

Amongst those, Denmark's Soren Hansen and Angelo Que of the Philippines were able to complete their rounds, with both players adding a five-under-par 67 to their opening efforts of 70.

"It was a good day, I played well," said Hansen. "I made a birdie on 11 after a great four iron over the water at the par three, but didn't take any of my chances on the back nine, which was my front nine.

"But then I made birdie on par five third and that got me going and then birdied the fourth and followed that up with an eagle and that was pretty much the round.

"There were a lot of pars but a spell of three really good holes and the 11th and that was it. I played solid tee to green but those three holes saved the day.

"The heat is the hardest battle for us Europeans this week. But I like the golf course, it is a good looking one so we will see what happens over the weekend."

Que admitted the humidity was getting the better of many players.

"Everybody is struggling in the heat and I think everyone is more focused on the heat than on their game," he said. "It's hot enough and if you let it affect you more, your game is going to be affected."

Also on seven under par are South Korea's KJ Choi and DH Kim, who have played 16 and nine holes respectively, plus overnight leaders Ignacio Garrido of Spain and Wales's Rhys Davies.

Both were level par for the day through 16 and 11 respectively, Davies matching two birdies with a couple of bogeys.

Further down the leaderboard, Peter Lawrie rescued a level par 72 second to remain at three-under-par overall despite shipping a disastrous quintuple bogey 10 at the par five fifth, after twice hitting out of bounds off the tee.