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Published on November 24, 2007

Griffiths produced another impressive performance as he battled with a two-under-par 70 at the Hanoi Phoenix Golf Resort yesterday.

Chawalit took full advantage of the strength of his short game to grab an early lead with a blemish-free round of 67 for a 138 total while golden oldie Boonchu survived two bogey scares on the 10th and 18th holes to record a similar score.

"I have been working hard on my chipping and putting the whole week and I am glad that it has finally paid off this week," said Chawalit who fired five birdies in his round.

Boonchu showed his younger ri-vals that age is not a barrier to success. "This course is a very long and wide one. I am not known to be a big hitter but I have been using my three and four irons on my second shot to bring me closer to the greens. It has worked well and I am going to continue this approach," said Boonchu, who will be counting on his experience to win his first Asian Tour title for the year.

Chawalit, Boonchu and Griffiths all hold a one-stroke lead over their closest rivals, fellow compatriots Chapchai Nirat and Thammanoon Srirot as well as Anthony Kang, Han Lee and Gary Rusnak of the US.  All five carded matching 139s.

Chapchai looks set to achieve his year-end target of finishing within the top-three with his score yesterday, but will have to work harder on his tee shots to put in a stronger challenge this weekend.

"I did not drive well today," said Chapchai who stands a chance overtaking current leader, Liang Wen-chong of China to win the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit if he wins this week's US$500,000 event.

Agencies

Hanoi