The Thai, who has already enjoyed two top-five finishes in his previous two WGC events in Mexico and the United States this year, will head into the weekend rounds in tied-seventh place, six shots back of American Tony Finau.

“It’s not a bad spot to be here. It’s really tough conditions with the wind all around, so strong. Makes the golf course completely different from the first round and was more difficult. But at least I got my putting back. I rolled the ball quite well,” said Kiradech.

“This week, I don’t feel I have my A Game yet. I don’t totally have it back, but much better than what I had the last few weeks,” the Thai added.

Finau signed for a 67 to take over the lead from compatriot Patrick Reed, who slipped to a share of second place with Englishmen Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood after the trio signed for matching two-day totals of eight-under-par 136 at the US$10 million event.

While conceding he has yet to play to his true potential this week, Kiradech is pleased he is still in contention for his first WGC win and there is a marked improvement in his short game.

Finau is playing at the WGC-HSBC Champions for the second time and showed his dominance on the second day of the tournament when he raced out in 32.

Finau suffered an unfortunate bounce off a sprinkler-head on 11 which saw his ball land over the back of the green and he would eventually go on to card a double-bogey there.

The American bogeyed 13 but came storming back with three more birdies on 14, 16 and 18 to take a three-shot advantage into the weekend.

In his first start since last month’s heavy USA defeat to Europe, the reigning Masters champ overcame gusting winds en route to an eight-birdie, bogey-free performance at the $10 million tournament in Shanghai.

Reed, 28, whose competitive attitude is often seen as cocky and abrasive, had raised hackles by criticising USA team captain Jim Furyk’s Ryder Cup pairings.

But he let his game do the talking at par-72 Sheshan International Golf Course, rolling in lengthy putts for birdie on his second and third holes and sticking an approach one foot from the pin for another birdie two holes later to ignite the scoring spree.

“It was pumping out there,” Reed said of the swirling winds.

“It felt really good. To shoot a round like that in these kinds of conditions, you know you’re going to have confidence when the wind dies down.”

Fellow American Xander Schauffle and Reed’s Ryder Cup teammate Tony Finau finished tied for second, two strokes back at six-under, while last year’s winner Justin Rose was in a pack of golfers at 69.

Reed had said after the Ryder Cup that he was “blindsided” by being grouped with Tiger Woods rather than Jordan Spieth, with whom Reed formed a potent team in USA’s 2016 victory.

– Koepka struggles –

Reed, whose comments were chief among the recriminations in the US camp after their 17.5 to 10.5 loss at Le Golf National, had alleged that Spieth refused to play with him.

But Furyk rejected that, saying pairings were made known to the team weeks before, an assertion later backed by former world number one Justin Thomas.

Reed did not make any comments about the row after his round.

The field in Shanghai features 19 of the world’s top 30 golfers, but newly crowned number one Brooks Koepka couldn’t quite get the momentum going.

Koepka has been hot this year, winning the US Open — his second in a row — the PGA Championship and Player of the Year honours, and victory in the CJ Cup in South Korea last week made him number one for the first time.

But he was among the golfers unable to master the windy conditions, notching just one birdie and a bogey for an even-par 72.

Rose, who seized on a final-round collapse by 54-hole leader Dustin Johnson to win last year, looked sharp but was happy to escape with a 69 after he closed both the front and back nines with bogeys.

“Sixty-nine is about the worst score I could have had out there. I played really good golf. It was possibly an eight-under round with the chances that I had,” said the world number three.

Johnson, who was the planet’s top-ranked golfer until good buddy Koepka leapfrogged him just days ago, will have to battle back after sliding to a two-over 74.

The tournament, dubbed “Asia’s major”, annually gathers a premier crop of players and carries a winner’s purse of $1.8 million.

Nelly Korda of America and South Korea’s Kang Hae-ji were tied for second at the par-72 Ta Shee Golf and Country Club in Taoyuan.

No players from China are at the tournament after Feng Shanshan and Liu Yu pulled out without explanation, raising the possibility that tensions with Beijing may have spilled over into the sporting arena.

Organisers from the LPGA Taiwan confirmed the players “withdrew their registration” but did not say when or why they made the request.

Relations have deteriorated since President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took office two years ago. Beijing regards the self-ruled island as a renegade province.

In July, Taiwan was stripped of hosting rights for the 2019 East Asian Youth Games, a move which sports officials blamed on Beijing’s anger over calls for a referendum to compete at the Olympics as ‘Taiwan’, rather than the Beijing-mandated ‘Chinese Taipei’.

World number three Caroline Wozniacki revealed on Thursday that she has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a revelation she found out before the US Open.

The Dane crashed out of the WTA Finals with a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Elina Svitolina, ending her title defence. It completed a momentous season for Wozniacki, who captured her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January.

Wozniacki said she initially felt unwell after Wimbledon before waking up during the Rogers Cup in August unable to lift her arms. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that attacks the joints, before the US Open.

“It’s been a lot to just take in. After the US Open, I just kind of had to figure out what really was going on,” she told reporters. “So that’s when I really figured it out. I went to see one of the best doctors there is and start treatment.”

The 28-year-old said she would look at ways during the off-season to control the autoimmune disease. “You find a plan, figure out what to do, you do your research, and thankfully there is great things now that you can do to it,” she said.

“You just kind of move on from it and work through it and figure out how to deal with it and live with it.”

Wozniacki said it was a condition she would have to deal with daily.

“The medication has really improved, so that’s amazing,” she said. “You have to think about diet, sleep, everything else.

“You know, it’s a lifetime thing. It’s not something that just goes away.”

Her victory at the China Open earlier this month was particularly emotional.

“I think that meant so much to me,” she said. “It also gave me the belief that nothing is going to set me back.”

The top seed, unbeaten in Basel since 2013, is an eight-time winner of his home event and will next play Frenchman Gilles Simon, who defeated Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis  7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/0).

Federer admitted he was not satisfied with his slow start, going down a break in the third game.

“I didn’t really get into the game. It’s been a long time since I’ve played a match a match without being broken.

“I have to improve in the next round.”

The 37-year-old, ranked third in the world, trailed to the early break but soon recovered for 3-all in the opening set.

He then broke for 5-3 before closing out the opener in 27 minutes.

The second set stayed on serve until a fifth double-fault from Struff, which opened the door for Federer to move 6-5 ahead.

Moments later, the 20-time Grand Slam champion served out a 41st victory of the season with a volley into the empty court on his first match point.

“It was a lot of rocky start, I had to clean up my game, I’m happy about that,” Federer said. “There were a lot of quick points – one or two shots max.

“There was no rhythm, it was a sprint on the majority of points. I did a little better than him I guess, that was the goal for today.”

Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas dominated Peter Gojowczyk 6-3, 6-1 to line up a quarter-final with one of his toughest NextGen rivals.

The Greek will face Russian Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Italy’s Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in their second-round encounter.

Medvedev owns three titles this season from Sydney, Winston-Salem and last month in Tokyo. He has also defeated last week’s Stockholm champion Tsitsipas in two meetings this season, in Miami and the US Open.

Tsitsipas made his trophy breakthrough at the weekend in Sweden with his first career title.

“I’m playing well,” said 16th-ranked Tsitsipas. “I think the rivalry between the young guys right now may be even stronger than that of the big names.

“We all want to get to the top sometime, we always want to do better than the other guy.”

Tsitsipas, 20, is the youngest player in the ATP Top 20, and the first Greek to win an ATP title. He also reached his first Masters final in Toronto in August before losing to Rafael Nadal.

Second seed Alexander Zverev ended the run of 174th-ranked Australian teenage qualifier Alexei Popyrin with a 6-4, 6-4 win.

The German next plays Spanish eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut who continued his quiet progress through the draw, beating Serb Dusan Lajovic 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-3.

The 19-year-old Suradit, playing in his second attempt at the popular event, nailed seven birdies against a lone bogey to lead by one shot over Delhi expert Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, as well as Indian duo Ajeetesh Sandhu and Tapy Ghai at the Delhi Golf Club.

Having enjoyed a tied-fifth place finish in Pakistan two weeks ago, Suradit was delighted to continue his fine form as he takes aim at a breakthrough Asian Tour title at the Panasonic Open, where he finished tied-21st last year.

“I played really good today. I feel very good with my game. I hit a lot of fairways. My tee shots were very good today and that was the key to play well here. I played my irons very well too and gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities,” said Suradit who came in joint runner-up in his last event in India in August and finished tied-fifth in Pakistan two weeks ago.

“Tirawat (Kaewsiribandit) is my regular roommate on Tour and to see him win in Pakistan was a great motivation and inspiration for me. It makes me want to win as well. Hopefully I can ride on my good form and try for a win this week,” he added.

Siddikur, a two-time Asian Tour winner but not since 2013, rediscovered some of his best form after returning with a bogey-free round highlighted by five birdies.

He holds an impressive track record at the par-72 6935 yards course where he won his second Asian Tour title in 2013, finished inside top-10 in four of his five attempts at the Panasonic Open India and has secured six top-10s in other Asian Tour events.

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, highest-ranked player in 14th place on the Merit rankings, posted a 68 to trail by two while defending champion Shiv Kapur of India posted a 70 to tie in 16th position in the event, which is celebrating its eighth successive edition on the region’s premier Tour.

Reigning Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit champion Pannakorn Uthaipas recorded the second albatross of the season on the par-five first hole after his five-iron second shot found the bottom of the cup from about 220 yards.

The Panasonic Open India is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and is the second leg of the 2018/19 Panasonic Swing, which is an aggregate points race that spans five events – in Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan.

The Suphanburi FC forward is in Milovan Rajevac’s 27-man squad that will be cut to 24 for the regional competition.

The 26-year-old player, along with Nurul Sriyankem, Thai-German Manuel Bihr and Suphan Thongsong was among those to take part in a training session on Wednesday, when he issued his warning.

“As I already have experience in regional tournaments, we should not overlook other teams and think we are better,” said Chananan, who was part of the SEA Games gold medal team in 2015.

“The competence of every Asean team is not very different. It all comes down to who is more precise [in taking their chances]. We should be humble but remain very competitive in the game,” added the left winger.

“I have no problem with this position. The coach may have seen me play this position with my club. No matter what position I’m in, I will be ready.

“Because of the humid condition, the training is focusing on physical strength. I will try my best but will not to put myself under pressure. I hope I will be good enough to make the cut.”

Several players from Buriram United and Chiangrai United have yet to join the team as they are involved in an FA Cup final game on Saturday.

Thailand, the five-time champions, are in Group A and will launch their title defence against Timor Leste at the Rajamangala National Stadium on November 9.

Ahead of the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, riders led by newly-crowned Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) sat down to face the media in the Pre-Event Press Conference…at least, after an encounter with some furry – or scaly – friends.

After steadfastly avoiding the snake in the animal meet and greet, Marquez spoke first and was joined by Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), home hero Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) and Ducati Team’s stand-in Alvaro Bautista – with talk ranging from the weather to 2019 and more.

After wrapping up title number seven in style, Marquez was, of course, happy ahead of the weekend. “I’m very happy! Of course you feel different now but I’ve not had a lot of time to celebrate – with the team yeah but then first thing on Monday I was in the HRC factory, to say hi to them. But after Malaysia I hope we have a bit more time to celebrate, and in Valencia.”

Traditionally, however, winning the title in Japan hasn’t been the best luck for the number 93. But will it be luckier with number seven? “I won in 2014 at Motegi, I got here and I thought I could do everything and I crashed. In 2016 I felt different but again I crashed in the race. So I need to control myself a bit, it’s a track that I love but…now we will start looking towards the 2019 season.”

Back to work already? There’s no time to rest on the flyaways. One thing that can get in the way a little in Australia is the weather, however – and Rossi will have an eye on that.

“I think Phillip Island is one of the best circuits of the season, for more or less everyone,” says the ‘Doctor’. “But the weather is important because here we can struggle a bit with it. I hope we can have good weather, especially for Sunday. Last year I was quite strong, we had both Yamahas on the podium so it looks like it’s a good track for us but every year is different so from tomorrow morning we have to work because here you need a good balance. It’s very fast, with very long corners. We’ll see if we can fight for the podium.”

It is a legendary circuit and, for the Italian, it’s unique. “For me Phillip Island is really different, it’s the only one like this. On other tracks you’re fast as an average speed but here you’re fast in the corners and there are a lot of high speed changes of direction. It’s mostly left but you still have to manage the right, and it’s all up and down…”

It is, with some of the most spectacular elevation changes on the calendar and some of the most incredible curves to boot. The man who tamed them best in 2016 was Crutchlow, and he’s on a roll as he arrives this season too, having taken P2 at Motegi.

“We have to take on board we had a great race last weekend in Japan, the team did a great job for me to finish second. I think the momentum is there and I’m riding quite well but I don’t know if we can repeat 2016. On paper right now there are ten guys who could probably win and there are only three spaces on the podium.”

The secret, says Crutchlow, is tactics – as borne out a few races of late.

“It’s a tactical track here, there are a few tricks of the trade you can do but I think it’s important to lead, then you have the chance to get away – if you look at Marc last year, he did that at the perfect time.”

Next to speak was Alex Rins, who was another on the podium in Japan. He’s also got some good momentum behind him recently. Can he repeat it? “We will try. For a few races we’ve been doing a really good job, the performance of the bike is really good. We need to be at 100% from Friday, this track is difficult, and the weather, we’ll see what happens with it but normally it’s very cold and windy…”

Looking a little further ahead, however, Rins is optimistic. “On Saturday night at Motegi I talked a bit to Sylvain Guintoli about the new bike, and he said that they’ve improved the engine area a bit, he was trying a new frame that we’ve still not tried and we’ll try after Valencia race, but the new package looks good.”

The package also looked good in Japan for Miller, who qualified on the front row. He’s also now racing at home and has some serious form at the Island; looking to avoid a repeat of his crash at Motegi. “I love coming to this race,” smiles Miller. “Staying in Melbourne for a couple of days and enjoying it, it’s a great event to be a part of!”

In terms of the track action, Miller’s key aim is to avoid his DNF from last time out. “We had the front row start in Japan, we tried the soft option tyre as a gamble and as we kinda had predicted but hoped not that by the third lap, the edge of the tyre was too hot. I was rolling around, I had a bit of a slide into the corner and crashed…and I’ll try not to do that too much this weekend!”

Next up was another rider on a Ducati, but not the same Ducati this weekend. Alvaro Bautista, after a good top five in Japan, has been called up to the factory team to ride Jorge Lorenzo’s GP18 as his compatriot recovers from injury.

“We worked well the whole weekend in Japan, and I think this opportunity arrives at my best moment because I feel very strong riding the bike,” says Bautista. “New people, new bike, now I have to adapt to the GP18. This track hasn’t been the best for Ducati and before we’ve struggled a lot but I’ll try to give all the information to the engineers.

“Qualifying was our critical point but in the last races we’ve been making progress and always in Q2 which is important because in MotoGP the first few laps, if you can make a good start and get in the front group you can stay with them. But if you start further back and have the rhythm of the front group it’s impossible to get to them…”

That front group is expected to be another stunning showdown on Sunday in the Michelin® Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, tune in from Sunday at the later local time of 16:00 (GMT +11) as the lights go out and the gloves come off.

Facing off for the very first time ahead of their upcoming main event spectacle were ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang of Myanmar and the challenger Mohammad “O Lutador” Karaki of Lebanon. Other athletes set to perform on the card were also in attendance.

This Friday, 26 October, ONE: PURSUIT OF GREATNESS takes place at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium as national icon and two-division ONE World Champion “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang of Myanmar returns to action to defend his ONE Middleweight World Title against the challenger, Mohammad “O Lutador” Karaki of Lebanon. The stacked card, featuring the absolute best in local and international martial arts talent, also features a series of compelling supporting bouts.

Aung La N Sang is Myanmar’s most successful athlete in history, whose impressive submission skills has earned him the moniker of ”The Burmese Python”. Born in Myitkyina in the mountainous Kachin State, he belongs to an ethnic minority known as the Kachin. Aung La N Sang captured the ONE Middleweight World Championship with a unanimous decision victory over Vitaly Bigdash in June of 2017. In February 2018, he defeated Brazil’s Alexandre Machado to be crowned the ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion. Next up, the 33-year-old is set to defend his middleweight title against Mohammad Karaki.

Undefeated Lebanese mixed martial arts star Mohammad “O Lutador” Karaki is a 27-year-old middleweight with an unblemished professional record of 9-0. The Phoenix Middleweight Champion, Karaki is considered one of the greatest mixed martial artists from the middle east. He also formerly held the Desert Force light heavyweight and middleweight titles. Of his nine victories, only one bout reached the final bell. With five submissions and three captivating knockouts to his name, Karaki is a feared finisher who is expected to bring the firepower when he meets “The Burmese Python” Aung La N Sang for the ONE Middleweight World Championship.

The eight were treated to a thriller as the home team scored a last-gasp equaliser for a 2-2 draw.

They landed the trip after entering TrueVisions’ campaign “Premier League VIP Big Fan” and Leo soda water’s “Leo Super Match”.

TrueVisions is the EPL broadcast licence-holder from 2016-2018 while Singha Corp under Leo-maker Boon Rawd has been a global partner of both Chelsea and Manchester United since 2010.

To win the TrueVisions tickets, entrants had to predict who would win the Premier League this year and why.

Tanat Khemthongpradit, a 21-year-old Manchester United fan, was chosen after backing the Red Devils to clinch the title.

Tanat Khemthongpradit, second from left, and Natchapon Phansawat, second from right.

He believed Jose Mourinho would be able to lead United forward despite the ongoing rift between the manager and his executive board.

Tanat’s given up on hopes that the troubled team will claim the title this season, but he wants to see more passion from the players in games.

For Tanat, who is obviously knowledgeable about football, the trip was a dream come true.

“I was stunned after I heard I’d been picked as a winner. I have been dreaming since I was young of coming to England to watch my beloved team play,” he said.

Natchapon Phansawat, a Chelsea fan, won his ticket by offering his opinion that the Blues were constantly changing their tactics which kept things exciting for fans.

This wasn’t his first visit to a stadium for a match but it was his first time watching a big-name team play.

“I’m really glad to get my first taste of what it’s like to be among 41,000 fans at Stamford Bridge stadium,” he said.

Kittima Ratanasangsathien, assistant director of marketing communication TrueVisions Group, said both companies wanted to offer fans the chance to watch matches not just on television but at the stadium.

Vicharn Nimitvanich, special force department manager at Boon Rawd Trading, said his company was determined to go on supporting sport at the domestic and international levels and hoped to offer more special activities for Thai fans in the future.