Richard Finch fluffed his chip twice on the fearsome 14th to drop two strokes. [David Ferguson / China.org.cn]

Just as with Damien McGraine the day before, Finch lost strokes on the 470-yard par four, which plays into the prevailing breeze. His approach flew the green into a bowl behind the hole. It is not particularly deep, and he had green to work with, but he fluffed his chip twice, and found himself with a putt from the fringe that he could not make – double bogey. He dropped another on 16 and finished on 2-under, disappointed but still very much in contention in a competition which he led last year after round one. He would very much like to add a third trophy to the New Zealand and Irish Opens he won in 2008.

But behind Finch a storm was brewing – a storm of birdies. Korean Ho-Sung Choi had opened his round with a bogey, but he had birdied 5 and 6. Now he hit four more birdies in five holes – on 10, 11, 13, and then 14, where he holed for a 3 from the same spot from which Finch had missed for a 5 only minutes earlier.

Second-round leader Ho-Sung Choi of Korea relaxes on the 14th tee. He went on to birdie the toughest hole on the course. [David Ferguson / China.org.cn]

Choi was at –7, three strokes clear of the field, and though he dropped one on the par-4 16th, where his approach missed the green, he finished on –6 with a handy two shot advantage over the rest of the field.

Of Thursday's leaders, Austria's Markus Brier dropped only one stroke to finish in joint second on 4-under alongside Nirat. David Mckenzie of Australia and England's Simon Dyson dropped strokes too, but are still there at 2-under. Dyson's fellow-countryman Nick Dougherty, who started the day in second place, figured briefly in the lead – he even rescued par on the 9th after being in the water – but he had a nightmare six over par back-nine for a 79 to finish on 3-over in 50th position.

The only other players under par are Spain's Gonzalo Fidez-Castano on 2-under, and Scott Strange of Australia, Holland's Indeer Van Weerelt, and Englishman Graeme Storm, all on 1-under.