BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese amateurs Ji Yifan and Yin Xiaowen carded rounds of four-under 68 to grab a share of the first-round lead at the Le Coq Sportif Beijing Ladies Classic on Thursday, tied with pros Li Xiya of Shanghai, India's Sharmila Nicollet and Thailand's Wanchana Poruangrong.
China's Yang Taoli and Chen Cuixia were one shot off the pace on 69 at the 800,000 yuan RMB (125,392 U.S. dollars) China LPGA Tour tournament held at the Beijing Orient Pearl Golf Club, tied with Thailand's Wannasiri Sirisampant, South African Connie Chen, Malaysian Dianne Luke and South Korean Seo Ji-hyun.
Ji, a 17-year-old who is No. 289 in the world amateur golf ranking, carded an eagle three at the 497-yard 14th hole to get to four-under. She then could only muster par over the final four holes.
"This is my second year to play in this event," said the teenager. "At the 14th hole I was 205 yards to the edge of the green. The ball bounced on the edge and then onto the green, stopping six feet from the hole."
Li, who is playing in her second full season on the CLPGA Tour, made birdie on the final three holes to get into contention. Her round included six birdies and two bogeys.
"Those two bogeys were on the front nine. I chose the wrong club on the second hole because there were lots of differences compared to the practice rounds, like the humidity and the green speed," said the 20-year-old who was equal sixth at the Sun Car Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Classic in Jiangsu province last month.
"I felt much better on the back nine, especially the end three holes where I got three consecutive birdies. Tomorrow I will fix the mistakes I made today and catch more chances," she added.
After dropping her only shot of the day with a five at the 420-yard second hole, Nicollet put together a string of five consecutive birdies starting from the fourth hole to move to the top of the leaderboard. She then finished with 10 straight pars.
"I played really well today. I could have had a lot more birdies on the back nine but I missed a lot of putts within 10 feet. I had one three-putt on the second hole, the only bogey I got today. I could get much lower but it's okay," said the Bangalore native who is playing full-time on the CLPGA Tour this year.
"Playing in China is great, close to home, a little bit tough with the language but I am getting used to it. The tour is very organized and takes good care of its players. The competition is very good as well. I am having fun. It's nice to be here," she said.
The Beijing Orient Pearl Country Club is a 6,417-yard, par-72 layout designed by TK Pen.?
