Luca Filippi carded the best round on Thursday by the five South Africans in the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School-Final Stage at Lake View Resort and Golf Club in Cha-Am, Thailand when he signed for a second-round three-under-par 68.

He overcame an early bogey – on the second – with four birdies to add to his opening two-under-par and he moved to a share of 18^th in the 234-man field which was cut to 150 and ties after 36 holes of the 90-hole marathon.

Just ahead of him on seven-under through 36, after adding a one-under to his tally in his second round, was MJ Viljoen. He was in a share of seventh together with Zimbabwean Benjamin Follett-Smith, who had a second round of level-par 71.

Kyle Barker had a two-under-par 69 to move to three-under and a share of 47^th, Jaco Prinsloo a second consecutive level-par 71 for a share of 97^th and Louis Albertse a second consecutive one-over 72 to move to two-over and a share of 134^th.

There will be another cut after 72 holes, so they all have a chance to get into contention. The top 70 players will duke it out in the final round in a fight for 35 cards.