Argentina’s Tano Goya, Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman, and Korean Jeunghun Wang were the biggest movers in the afternoon field on day one of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. In pursuit of the lead of six-under-par, Goya concluded his round first, carding a three-under-par 69. He was later joined by Wang before Rahman completed his round, signing for a four-under-par 68 in Anahita.
Goya’s round took a while to get going, with pars on all of his front nine holes. It was at the 10th when the 27 year old dipped into red numbers with a birdie, which was promptly followed up with another one at 11. A further birdie at the 13th and the 2014 Dimension Data Pro-Am Champion was halfway in his pursuit of the lead. Unfortunately for the two-time Challenge Tour winner, his charge to the top was scuppered with a bogey at the 14th, a shot he could only claim back with a birdie at the 18th.
The 2009 Madeira Islands Open champion may be slightly disappointed with a round that promised more, but his 69 still took him to a share of fourth, two shots behind Andre Dodt, who led with a morning round of 66.
Joining Goya in tie for fourth is last week’s champion Jeunghun Wang, who started the round with a bogey. A run of three birdies from the sixth to the eighth saw him jump to two-under-par ahead of the turn. A solid back nine followed with the 20-year-old making eight pars in a row before a birdie on the 18th pushed him up the leaderboard.
Siddikur Rahman started on the 10th and made three birdies on his first nine, which propelled him upward. After the turn he followed a par at the first with a birdie at the second, which had the two-time Asian Tour winner at four-under and in a share for second. Five consecutive pars kept him right at the top before a late stall in his round. The 31-year-old bogeyed the eighth before getting the shot back at the ninth to finish the round two shots off the pace.
Jbe’ Kruger was the top South African after his morning round of two-under 70. Ruan de Smidt and Anahita member Hennie Otto both carded rounds of one-under-par 71.
