The crack Philippine trio struggled and lost quite a considerable amount of ground in the 31st Nomura Cup on Wednesday, with a second round 146 tally dropping the Filipinos into a third-place tie with China and defending champion Vietnam, now 10 strokes off leading Hong Kong-China.

But the young squad members believe that they have to play their best with a 288 aggregate, and with 36 holes left, the deficit is still pretty manageable as they chase the country’s first win in the event also known as the official Asia-Pacific team championship.

Reigning national Match Play champion Shinichi Suzuki, after failing to count in the opening round on Tuesday, fired a level par 72 at the Bayhood No. 9 Golf Club in Beijing, a respectable effort, but one he described could have been much lower if not for a terrible day on the sleek greens.

Newly minted Phl Strokeplay champ Jet Hernandez also had his struggles, and his 74 counted as the second score for the Filipinos, who drew a 75 from first day leading scorer Rolando Bregente, who had just one unfortunate hole that practically made up for his 75 that failed to count.

“Today wasn’t our day,” Suzuki, at 18 the youngest in the crew, said after failing to break par despite missing just four greens.

“But there’s still a lot of golf to be played and anything is possible with God on our side.”

Hong Kong-China hung tough, assembling a 138 built around the 67 of Ethan Tian, for 278, 10-under over the tough layout, with Japan now six behind after a second straight 142 for 284.

Tian was the one that didn’t count for HK-China on opening day, as Markus Zachary Lam accounted for a 71 for their six-under day.

Mao Matsuyama fired another 71 and Japan got the same from Kaito Sato for its 142, even as the Chinese and Vietnamese both returned 143s to be in a three-way tie with the Filipinos.

“(The team) talked about the deficit and we’re still confident that we can make something happen,” the 21-year-old Hernandez said after what he described as a weird day off the tees.