Bianca Pagdanganan stayed in the medal hunt of women's golf in the Paris Olympics after the second round at Le Golf National on Thursday.
Pagdanganan bounced back from her even-par opening with a three-under 69 to move up to a six-way tie for sixth place at 141, which included erstwhile leader Celine Boutier.
Boutier misfired midway in the back nine as she conceded bogeys in three straight holes, including double bogeys in holes 13 and 15, to finish the second round with a four-over-par 76.
World No. 137 Morgane Metraux was the surprise new frontrunner after a sensational front nine in which she scored two eagles in holes 3 and 9, both par 5s.
She bogeyed three holes in the back nine to settle for a six-under-par 66 for the day, but after Boutier's struggles, Metraux was solely on top with an eight-under 136.
World No. 5 Yin Ruoning of China also banked on an impressive Day 2 to go second with a seven-under 137, while New Zealand's Lydia Ko was third at five-under-par 139, just one ahead of joint fourth placers Mariajo Uribe and Pia Babnik and two ahead of Pagdanganan's group.
Babnik rose to the occasion in the second round as she got out of the red zone with a six-under 66.
Dottie Ardina, the other Filipino bet, finished even but at 36th place, her hopes of snatching a medal seemed bleak.
Two-time US Open champion Yuka Saso continued to struggle as she went over par again on Day 2 to drop to seven-over 151, joining a five-way tie for 47th place.
Meanwhile, Elreen Ando came close to landing a medal in the women's 59kg weightlifting event at South Paris Arena.
Ando, who tied her personal best in the snatch with a 100kg lift and set a new one in the clean-and-jerk with a 130kg, ended up in a tie for fourth with Venezuela's Anyelin Venegas and Nigeria's Rafiatu Lawal at 230kg total, just five off erstwhile champion Kuo Hsing-Chun of Chinese Taipei, who settled for the bronze this time.
After the tiebreaker, Ando wound up sixth.
In a showdown that saw the Olympic record in the snatch broken multiple times minutes apart, China's Luo Shifang reigned supreme with a 241kg total, itself an Olympic record.
She ended up with the final Olympic record for the snatch after lifting 107kg while finishing with 134 in the C&J, also an Olympic record.
Kuo tried to keep the championship after announcing she would go for 137kg in her final lift after clearing 130 on her second try, but she failed to complete the lift.
Pagdanganan will try to stay within medal contention in the last two rounds this weekend, while Vanessa Sarno will compete in the women's 71kg weightlifting early Saturday (PH time). (PNA)
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