Hataoka, who is only 19 and on her second tour season but ranks 14th in the world, carded eight birdies to grab the solo lead on a blustery day at the Sky 72 Golf Club’s Ocean Course in Incheon, her round only spoiled by a bogey on the 17th. Ariya Jutanugarn meanwhile shot a 69 to trail the leader by four strokes.

“I nailed a lot of long putts today and read the greens really well,” Hataoka said after the round.

Hataoka won her first LPGA title at the NW Arkansas Championship in June and is aiming to represent Japan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Danielle Kang of the United States and England’s Charley Hull were tied for second place, two strokes adrift.

Kang — who is ethnically Korean — said the conditions were “tough” but focused on “keeping it steady, keeping consistent” as she was cheered on by friends and family.

“I absolutely love playing in Korea,” the 25-year-old said. “And I’m playing good which makes it even better because Korea, you know, they love when you play well and they just cheer you on and I like that.”

Top-ranked Park of South Korea finished the first round at four-under 68, tied for fourth place with Minjee Lee of Australia.

The Thai German of Ratchaburi Mitr Phol FC’s generated the only goal in the game through a pass from Buriram United’s Supachai Jaided just two minutes after the first whistle.

The match with Hong Kong is one of the two International A Match games for Thailand. The other is the encounter with Trinidad and Tobago in Siphanburi on Sunday.

Thailand’s national coach Milovan Rajevac said: “The game against Hong Kong is a good test for us. They have tall players and used high ball against us all the time. We learned a lot from the game while several players have been sent to gain experience for the first time.”

Milovan Rajevac

Prawat, the 2016 Olympic champion, timed 3:14.54 minutes to grab gold with teammates Khongkrak Putharet and Tana Rawat coming second and third in 3:14.65 and 3:14.88 minutes respectively.

Thailand have won a total of 17 golds at the ParaGames, seven of which came from para athletics and six from table tennis.

The world No 16-ranked team appeared to lose steam after playing nine matches in two weeks in Japan.

Heading into yesterday’s match, Thailand had been involved in four tiebreak games in the first and second rounds, beating Korea but losing to Russia (in Pool C first round in Kobe last week), and then to USA and to Bulgaria (in Pool F second round this week in Osaka).

They failed to qualify for the last-six round, with only the top three teams in Pool E and F moving on.

 With three wins and six losses from their nine matches, Thailand finished on 11 points, just one ahead of rock-bottom Azerbaijan.

Turkey were fifth on 15 points, while Bulgaria, also with 11 points from four wins and five defeats, finished sixth courtesy of their extra victory.

Italy (24 points) and China (22) have already secured their spots in the next round, while the US and Russia (21 each) were left to compete for the remaining spot.

“The Turkish players are very tall and they have speed and fast combinations,” said Thai national coach Danai Sriwachamaytakul.

“Our team played well even though we are not as tall as them. I want to thank all my players and staff because I am really satisfied with how we have played here.”

Turkey’s coach Giovanni Guidett said: “ Thailand are really an amazing volleyball team. Despite the height disadvantage, they were able to compete at this level.

“As for my team,I just wish they could have done better against the big teams like China, Italy, Russia and USA.”

 The world No 37, the only Thai in the event, fired four birdies against a lone bogey to finish six strokes behind unfancied leader American Bronson Burgoon.

The 31-year-old American had eight birdies, an eagle on the 18th with a bogey on the 13th.

 Burgoon, still looking for his maiden PGA win, has a one-shot advantage over countryman Austin Cook, who produced eight birdies in a bogey-free round to have sole possession of second.

Burgoon outshone Ryder Cup stars Justin Thomas and Paul Casey as he shot nine-under par 63 to lead the event and then played down his round as “boring”.

At the revamped TPC Kuala Lumpur,  Burgoon chipped in for an eagle on the 18th hole, his ninth after starting from the 10 tee, and then added five birdies on his back nine.

That gave him a one-shot lead over compatriot Austin Cook on a low-scoring first day, with the red-hot Billy Horschel in a three-way tie for the third place at seven-under par.

Thomas, the two-time CIMB champion and former world one, shot four birdies in his last five holes to move to three shots behind the leader, tied sixth at six-under par along with seven other players including England’s Casey.

“I drove it well and I putted pretty good, so it was kind of boring golf, but that’s always a good thing,” said the Texan.

“I chipped in for eagle from the bunker on my ninth hole, which kind of boosted me, then I just kept going.”

World number four Thomas, winner of the event in 2015 and 2016, was happy with his start, especially the finish to his round.

“It was a good day. Kind of up and down. I got off to a good start and then kind of stalled out a little bit there in the middle,” said the man with eight PGA Tour wins in the last two seasons.

“I hung in there and just really didn’t hit my irons very well. I just didn’t take advantage of a couple opportunities, but kind of found something there those last five holes and was able to at least make a good round of it today.”

Horschel continued from where he left off in the FedEx Cup playoffs, where he finished inside the top-three in four starts and withdrew from the fourth.

Defending champion Pat Perez opened with a two-under-par 70 in the tournament jointly sanctioned by the PGA and the Asian Tours.

Thomas, the 2017 FedExCup champion, won his first two PGA TOUR titles at TPC Kuala Lumpur’s West course in 2015 and 2016 before finishing T17 last year as he watched Pat Perez triumph by four shots.

Coming off another strong campaign in the recently concluded 2017-18 PGA TOUR Season where he won three times, the 25-year-old is aiming to launch his 2018-19 campaign off on a winning note on the West course, which recently underwent a renovation programme, where he is a staggering 60-under-par over 12 rounds.

“It’s just a place that I’ve obviously played well. I’m comfortable. I think being a little bit of a longer hitter you have an advantage, but I mean, the fact of the matter is that I’ve just played well the years I played here.  I think my wedge game is a strong suit of mine and you have a lot of wedges out here, so I’ve been able to take advantage of that,” said Thomas.

Now a nine-time PGA TOUR winner, a major champion and even a World No. 1 for a brief period in May, Thomas looked back at how the early wins in Malaysia provided the launchpad to his blossoming career.

“This is always going to be a special place to me. This is always going to be the place I got my first PGA TOUR victory and that’s very, very special. Every time I look at that trophy in my office at home, it brings back a lot of great memories, anytime I see videos or clips of it.  It was a very instrumental part of my career, for sure” said the world No. 4.

“Anytime you win three times in a season, it’s still a pretty good season. Obviously not winning a major was a big difference and not winning the FedExCup, but I played plenty well enough last season to win the same amount of times. You know, when you win that many times in a year, you have a lot of things go your way.”

While Thomas will be shooting for a hat-trick in the tournament, which is the only PGA TOUR tournament in Southeast Asia and the first of three PGA TOUR tournaments in Asia this month, title holder Perez will be hoping to maintain a trend of winners winning in back-to-back years. American Ryan Moore won the event in 2013 and 2014 before Thomas enjoyed his double here in 2015 and 2016.

“I love coming here, my caddy loves coming here. We’ve had fun ever since the first time we came a lot of years ago. I love this course, I love the greens. I love the greens at Mayakoba, they’re the exact same and I’ve won both of them. So I get confident with the putter, it’s a big thing for me,” said Perez.

Horschel, the 2014 FedExCup Champion, arrived in KL in top form after finishing fifth in the 2017-18 FedExCup final standings following a runner-up outing in the TOUR Championship, the season finale. It culminated a strong season for Horschel, who finished T3 in two other FedExCup Playoff events.

A five-time PGA TOUR winner, Horschel will play in his third CIMB Classic following appearances in 2013 and 2014 where he finished T11 and T37 respectively. “I haven’t been back in about four years, so the course I knew had always played really a lot of low scores.  To see the golf course with the new Bermuda grass, the course is in unbelievable shape.  It’s going to play a lot tougher. It’s going to be a great test of golf,” Horschel said.

India’s Anirban Lahiri, the last man to get into the elite field on Sunday, is hoping to contend once again in KL. He finished T10 and T3 in the last two years here and also won the Malaysian Open on the West course in 2015.

“I’m quite relieved actually,” said Lahiri, now an established PGA TOUR member. “I’m going to familiar territory, I play well here, I know what to do, I know the golf course, the weather, how far the ball’s going to go, pin positions.”

Already a two-time International team member, Lahiri is keen ensure he makes the Presidents Cup again for December, 2019 under the captaincy of Ernie Els who is also in the  field this week. “I know how badly he wants us to win the Cup back. It rubs off on all of us. Any Presidents Cup is special, but this time we’re going to be playing on home ground, on home turf rather, and I think it’s going to be different. It’s very, very important.”

Other stars competing in the CIMB Classic include Europe’s Ryder Cup star Paul Casey, last week’s winner Kevin Tway, World Golf Hall of Famers, Davis Love III and Ernie Els, Brand Snedeker, Xander Schauffele and Keegan Bradley, last year’s runner-up here.

The tournament will celebrate its ninth edition this year, and is the second tournament of the new 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season. The PGA TOUR-sanctioned tournament  features a limited field of 78 players comprising of the top 60 available players from the 2017-18 FedExCup points list, eight sponsor exemptions and the top-10 available players from the Asian Tour.

The Thai No 1 was up-and-down throughout the match but after blowing away several leads, she finally closed out the match in the tie-break after more than two hours and 40 minutes of baseline battle.

Cornet, the world number 44 said: “It was a crazy match, the scenario was turning around all the time, in the first set we couldn’t keep our serves, in the second we couldn’t break.”

Luksika will next face  former world No 1 Garbine Muguruza who shrugged off a rain delay to sweep through in confident style.

The Spanish former Wimbledon and French Open champion brushed aside Romania’s Ana Bogdan with the loss of only three games to underline her status as one of the tournament favourites.

Torrential downpours delayed the start of play by more than four hours and the world number 13 did not come out on court until 10.21pm, but said she had remained focused on the game during the extended build-up.

“It really was a long day, a long wait, at some point I thought I was maybe not going to play,” said the relieved fourth seed, after winning 6-2, 6-1.

“I think you have to think you’re going to play, the moment you think you’re not going to play you relax too much and it’s harder to connect.”

Kristina Kucova, who caused an upset Monday after she knocked out Jelena Ostapenko, glided through her match with Viktoriya Tomova 6-1, 6-0.

“I’m very happy with the wins and it gives me a lot of confidence,” Kucova said.

“It was very difficult because we were supposed to play at 3pm, and every half an hour the supervisor postponed it. We didn’t know how long it would rain but it was the same conditions for both of us.”

– ‘A good future’ –

China’s leading ladies will be bidding to join Muguruza in the quarter-finals when they play Thursday.

Wang Qiang, 26, and Zhang Shuai, 29, said confidence was now growing among Chinese players after a quiet spell since trailblazer Li Na, a two-time major-winner, retired in 2014.

The pair added that Li’s shining example and the explosion of tournaments in China after her Grand Slam wins had triggered the emergence of a new generation of players.

Wang Qiang, ranked 24th, and 40th-placed Zhang head a list of four Chinese players in the current top 100, and there are 11 in the top 200 including 17-year-old US Open junior champion Wang Xiyu.

“Li Na has given us all a lot of hope,” Zhang said.

“When she won the Grand Slams I think more people decided to try tennis and try to believe in themselves.”

She added: “Now we have so many tournaments in China I think a lot of young players have more opportunities to make a higher ranking.”

Zhang, who turned professional in 2006, said the game was now a big hit among Chinese fans. China has seven WTA Tour-level tournaments this year.

“For sure it’s more popular than it was five years ago because unlike with other sports, almost every week there is a big tournament,” she said.

Wang Qiang, seeded sixth in Hong Kong, said Li’s achievements stood as a “goal” for her career, and had kick-started the development of tennis in China.

“Other players are now doing really well so I think China has a good future,” she said.

The 37-year-old Swiss top seed faces Spain’s unseeded Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday in the last 16 after what was an unconvincing start against the Russian.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion initially wasted little time stamping his mark on the tournament, breaking the 22nd-ranked Medvedev in the first game.

But Medvedev, 22, fresh from winning the Japan Open, broke back and enjoyed even more luck on Federer‘s serve in the second set to force a third.

In what was the first meeting between the pair, Federer broke in the ninth game of the decider to finally destroy Medvedev’s resolve in just under two nail-biting hours.

“In the third set I really started to figure it out,” said Federer, who was roared on by a band of fanatical fans decked out in red tops.

“How aggressive or how tactical I wanted to make the match, and by trying everything, I found a solution at the end.”

Federer, who was uncharacteristically flustered at times, said he was pleased with his performance, but admitted it had been a nervy one.

“Of course I feel pressure from the tournament organisers, the fans, my team, myself, because I know that sometimes coming through a tough first round can be the key to what’s to come afterwards,” said the 2017 champion.

“Today was very close to maybe not getting that next step.”

– Del Potro virus –

With the exception of injured world number one Rafael Nadal, Federer‘s chief rivals are all still in the mix.

Juan Martin del Potro and Alexander Zverev both defied illness to join Federer and Novak Djokovic in the next round.

Del Potro, the third seed, said that he is suffering from a virus and reviewing his health “hour by hour”, after labouring past France’s Richard Gasquet.

The Argentine lost Sunday’s final of the China Open in Beijing to unseeded Nikoloz Basilashvili and afterwards revealed that he had been unwell.

Three days on and the 30-year-old continues to be under the weather, but just about did enough to see off Gasquet 7-5, 7-6 (9/7).

Between coughs at his post-match press conference, Del Potro said: “It wasn’t easy to play for me today, I did what I can. I didn’t run too much.

“But I’m going like hour by hour and see how I’m feeling,” added Del Potro, who plays 13th seed Borna Coric of Croatia next in Shanghai.

“I got lucky that I won, but tomorrow will be a different day.

“If I have a good night today and I have a good recovery tomorrow morning, maybe I will feel a little bit better for tomorrow night and play better than today.”

The 21-year-old Zverev fought off a cold — he has had a sore throat and blocked nose for a few days — and the raw power of Basilashvili, winning 7-5, 6-4.

The fourth seed will play Australia’s world-ranked 33 Alex de Minaur.

Zverev said that Basilashvili, who is up to a career-high ranking of 23, “knows how to play, definitely”.

“Probably the hardest-hitting player I have ever played against,” said Zverev.

Coached by South Korean Choi Young-seok, Kanthida beat Chinese Yang Junli 3-2 and Greek Fani Tseli 7-3 in the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

“I expected to win a medal but never a gold. It was a big relief to beat Tseli as I had never beaten her before,” said Kanthida, who also revealed that her mother had prayed for her by eating vegetarian food for three days.

Choi, who has also been behind the successes of other Thai taekwondo exponents, including Asian Games gold medalist Panipak Wongpattanakit, said Kanthida had finally put behind her bad results against Tseli.

“The last time Kanthida lost to Tseli was a painful experience to her. But I kept telling her that she had to believe in herself and had no fear. She proved she believed in her potential,’ Choi said.

In the boys’ under-63kg, Naruepong Thepsen had to be content with the silver after he lost to Cho Wonhee of South Korea 16-21 in the final.

Bulgaria won 3-2 with set scores of 25-18, 22-25, 18-25, 25-22, 19-17 in 2 hours and 7 minutes of fluctuating form and fortunes. Bulgaria improved their win-loss record to 3-5 and dropped Thailand to the same mark after eight matches.

Nasya Dimitrova led all scorers with 28 points, with 22 spikes and five blocks, and Gergana Dimitrova scored 20.

Thailand’s Sittirak Onuma scored 24 for Thailand and captain Pleumjit Thinkaow added 18.

Bulgaria started strongly on spike and block. Gergana Dimitrova and Miroslava Paskova pierced the Thai defence and captain Hristina Ruseva and Nasya Dimitrova recorded crunching blocks against the Thai attack. The Europeans led 16-11 at the second TTO.

For Thailand, captain Pleumjit Thinkaow and Malika Kanthong gave the Bulgarians plenty to think about with their customary high-speed counters, and Onuma Sittirak scored impressively from an overhead set out on the right.

The Bulgarians maintained a fast pace and raced to the first set 25-18 in 24 minutes. Wing spiker Gergana Dimitrova scored nine points alone in the first set, with eight spikes and one block point.

In the second set, Onuma’s block for 4-1 sent Bulgaria into an early TO and the Thais still led by three at the first TTO, 8-5. The Thais had certainly bolstered their block and all-round defence and the Bulgarian points were not as free-flowing as in the first set.

The blocking of Nasya Dimitrova and clever attack of Paskova kept Bulgaria in touch and two consecutive aces from Ruseva pushed her team in front 14-13. Wilavan, Onuma and Thatdao Nuekjang moved Thailand ahead 18-16 and Bulgaria needed a TO to stop the string of Thai points. The second set was now a great battle, and Thailand scored an extraordinary point when Pleumjit spiked deep after Onuma’s incredible one-fisted save when all seemed lost.

Onuma brought up two set points at 24-22 and then clinched it with an ace for 25-22 and 1-1.

Bulgaria looked to re-establish their authority in the third set through Nasya Dimitrova and Mariya Karakasheva but the Thais would not allow them to move clear as Wilavan, Pleumjit and Thatdao all broke through at regular intervals to keep the score neck and neck. Every Thai point was greeted with screams of delight from their proud fans in the arena and they led 16-15 at the second TTO.

Bulgaria needed a TO at 19-16 to try and deal with the play of Pleumjit at the net and the Onuma-Wilavan-Malika triumvirate. When Thatdao blocked Gergana Dimitrova the tide had turned towards Thailand and they closed out the third set 25-18 for 2-1 as the Bulgarians looked lost against the flowing blue waves of Thai play.

In the fourth set, Nasya Dimitrova’s brilliant blocking kept the Thais in their sights. Bulgaria led 16-14 at the second TTO and Gergana Dimitrova’s ace gave Bulgaria fresh hope, only to run into Pleumjit’s well-organised block which sent Bulgaria into a TO. Bulgaria had two set points at 24-22 and Nasya Dimitrova blasted through the Thai block for 25-22 and 2-2.

In the tiebreak, Karakasheva fired Bulgaria into an 8-6 lead at the turnaround. A Thatdao block brought the scores level 13-13. Thailand had one match point at 15-14 but succumbed to Bulgaria’s block on the Europeans’ fourth match point.

Thailand, with no chance to reach the next round, will play for the fifth place in the last match of Pool F on Thursday against Turkey.