Casandra Alexander held off the effects of a stiff back on Friday with a one-under 71 in the second round of the Wistron Ladies Open to reach halfway three shots off the lead.

She made two bogeys on the third and fourth holes, but bounced back with three birdies on the ninth, 13th and 18th to move to none-under-par after her superb opening eight-under 66.

Cheng-Hsuan Shih held the lead at the 36-hole mark after back-to-back rounds of six-under 66 at Sunrise Golf and Country Club. The Chinese Taipei star, who won the inaugural edition of the Wistron Ladies Open in 2020, sat in second place after the first round. Her second round included one bogey and birdies on the first, second, eighth, ninth, 12th, 13th and 17th holes, and she led by one with a score of 12-under-par.

P.K. Kongkraphan equalled the course record of nine-under 63 to sit in solo second place on 11-under-par. The Thai star, who has 14 wins on the TLPGA since 2022, had 10 birdies on her scorecard with only one dropped shot.

England’s Hannah Screen was in outright third place on 10-under-par after another round of 67, and Juliana Hung of Chinese Taipei and South Africa’s Alexander shared fourth place on nine-under-par.