>>Saitama: Hiroshi Iwata of Japan battled to a two-under-par 69 in persistent rain to seize the halfway lead at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup yesterday.
The rainy conditions made it tricky for players on day two but Iwata stood firm as he led on eight-under-par 134 at the ¥150 million (approximately 43 million baht) event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation.
Japan's Yuta Ikeda, who has won 19 titles in Japan, fired the second round's low score of 66 to trail Iwata by one shot at the Musashi Country Club, Sasai course.
Big-hitting Kurt Kitayama of the US grinded to a hard-fought 71 to sit in tied third place alongside Japanese duo Kenichi Kuboya (70) and Yuki Inamori (72) on 137s.
After dropping his first shot of the tournament on hole 14, former PGA Tour player Iwata bounced back superbly with three straight birdies to hold a narrow edge over a fast-charging Ikeda.
Currently placed 98th on the world rankings, Ikeda lived up to his billing as the second highest ranked player in the field when he fired three birdies in each half against a single bogey.
Rookie Kitayama kept up his chase for a first Asian Tour victory after struggling off the tees where he found eight out of 14 fairways. He returned with four birdies against three bogeys to give himself a fighting chance on the weekend.
Danthai Boonma and Prayad Marksaeng were Thailand's best performers on 139.
"It was raining the whole day but it wasn't too bad," said Iwata. "However, it is only the second day and I don't want to think too much. I just have to prepare and keep improving."