Tianjin, China: Teenager An Tong is poised to break into the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) top-100 for the first time after another impressive display against the professionals on the China LPGA Tour.

An contended for the title at the Tianjin Ladies Challenge, eventually claiming sole possession of second place, two strokes behind the victorious Sui Xiang.

Playing in front of her hometown fans at the Tianjin Panshan Golf Club, An closed with a two-under 70. Birdies at the 15th and 16th holes saw her move within one stroke of Sui, but the 17-year-old’s hopes evaporated when she three-putted on the penultimate hole.

“I made a couple of nice birdies and thought I could have a high finish, but what a pity about the 17th hole,” said the teenager who last year beat the pros to win the Hangzhou International Championship.

“What hurts more was the first two rounds when I made too many mistakes, especially in the second round,” added An, China’s leading individual in February’s Queen Sirikit Cup in the Philippines and last month’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) in Singapore.

An began the week in 107th place in the WAGR but can expect to rise further in the wake of her latest outing when the rankings are updated on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, for Guangdong native Sui it was her second China LPGA Tour title in less than five months.

With a one-shot lead going into the third round, the 24-year-old held steady, carding an even-par 72. With a 54-hole aggregate of four-under 212 she claimed the RMB45,000 winner’s purse.

An’s fellow amateur Cao Xinyu placed third, followed by Zeng Liqi (74) and Thailand’s Sherman Santhiwiwatthanaphon (73), the leading international player.

Sui, who won the Zhuhai Challenge in December for her maiden title, described her round as ‘decent’, despite three-putting on the ninth and 14th holes for bogeys. Her best shot of the day came on the 379-yard 10th hole where her approach with a five-iron to a tricky pin behind a bunker landed within eight feet and she successfully converted.

“After the turn, I felt my game was not so solid. Some bad habits crept into my game. I struggled to adjust my putting and was short many times. However, I was more scared than hurt. I didn’t know other players’ scores until the last hole where my caddie told me that I still led by two shots. It was helpful as I would have been thinking ahead of myself,” said Sui, who will go into next month’s Beijing Ladies Challenge as the Order of Merit leader.

“Since the last win in Zhuhai I worked more on my short game. I also went into the gym five times a week, which helped my game to be more consistent. This is the first event this year. Hopefully more wins follow.”

Cao, who was playing in the final group and had her father as her caddie, started the day one shot off the lead but struggled early in registering consecutive bogeys from the third hole. She finished the back nine with two more bogeys and two birdies.

“For both my father and I it was stressful at the very beginning. But it’s a valuable experience for the future. You can grow from such an experience. I did not have an ideal score, but third place is a good position,” said the 16-year-old from Shanghai, who made the WAAP cut in 2022 and 2023 and is currently 372nd in the WAGR.