Felipe Aguilar maintained his one-shot overnight lead as the weather-delayed second round of the Volvo China Open was completed at Topwin Golf and Country Club on Saturday morning.
The Chilean, one of the morning starters on Friday, had completed a brilliant 65 on day two to move to 11 under before the threat of lightning led to a suspension of play at 3.50pm.
The ensuing darkness meant that the players would not get back out on course, with some of the later starters still left with 12 holes to complete upon the 6.45am resumption.
First round leader Hennie Otto was nine under with four holes to finish when the horn sounded and the South African picked up a birdie on the last to complete a 71 and move to within one of the lead alongside Swede Alex Noren and Austria's Bernd Wiesberger.
Otto had opened with a brilliant 63 on Friday and felt that with a bit more luck on the greens, he could have led for the second consecutive round.
"I didn't hit the ball as close as the first round but I played nicely, I played really solid," he said.
"I had three horseshoe lip-outs, bad ones, that made a difference as well. The three horseshoe lip-outs, that's three shots to the score.
"But you can't expect anything after 63, especially on this golf course, so that's why I just went out there and did my thing.
I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm hitting the ball nicely so it's just a matter of getting it clicking on the putter - Hennie Otto
German Marcel Siem was also nine under - five under for his round - when play was ended and resumed with a double-bogey on the fifth but recovered with birdies on the sixth and ninth in a 67 to stay two behind Aguilar.
That put him alongside Lucas Bjerregaard, Tyrrell Hatton and Tae-hoon Kim and a shot clear of Li Haotong and Maximillian Kieffer.
Frenchman Grégory Havret had seven holes left to play and he completed a 66 with a birdie on the fourth to join the group at eight under, with Richard Bland also moving to that mark.
The Englishman had nine holes to complete in the morning and signed for a 67 despite a double-bogey on the 14th, with birdies on the 12th, 15th and 18th.
American David Lipsky completed the group three shots off the lead, making birdies on the eighth, tenth and 15th in his remaining holes to sign for a 67.
There was then a group of 11 players at seven under, with 32 within five shots of the lead.
Defending champion Wu Ashun had seven holes left to play and he had a dramatic morning as bogeys on the 15th and 16th moved him one shot below the cut-line before a birdie on the last ensured he would make the weekend at three under.
