After rounds of 66-70, Kanazawa is at 9-under-par in the women’s event with NSW’s Kelsey Bennett (7-under) and Brisbane-based Cook Islander Elmay Viking (6-under) leading the chasing pack.

Also well in the mix at 5-under at the halfway point are LPGA Tour star Jenny Shin (Korea), brilliant Victorian amateur Jazy Roberts, another Japanese player Madoka Kimura and Western Australia’s Jessica Whitting.

Meanwhile Geary’s 64-65 to be 15-under overall gives him a two-stroke lead over NSW amateur Declan O’Donovan (65-66) in the men’s tournament as he tries to secure his first Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia title since the 2013 WA Open.

Two previous Tour winners in South Australian Lachlan Baker (66-66) and NSW’s Austin Bautista (65-67) share third place at 12-under.

Viking is the real surprise packet in the final groups on Saturday.

The 30-year-old, who combines her golf career with working for Australia Post, has logged 70-69 to get herself into contention for what would be her first win of this magnitude.

Afterward, she was stunned to find that she would be in the top handful of players entering the weekend.

“I’ve got no idea, to be honest with you,” she said.

“I never thought I'll be up there contending, like to the leaderboard, but I've got to say that I'm pretty happy to hear that.”

Former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin is at 1-under and remains in contention, although she will need a big weekend.

Geary, 40, has won the Order of Merit on the Charles Tour in his homeland the past two seasons, including claiming four event titles.

His second round included a front nine of 30 on the Creek course.

“My plan was to come over here and get ready for the New Zealand Open in a few weeks and the New Zealand PGA,” he said.

“I wasn't feeling great about the way things felt coming into this week and, to be honest, some of the long stuff's still pretty rough. But I managed to get it around and the scoring clubs are really sharp.”

The Kiwi played 35 holes without a bogey across the Beach and Creek courses the past two days.

He was leading by five shots when he made double-bogey on his final hole, the par-4 18th on the Creek, when he missed the green to the right.

Playing in his eighth Tour event as an amateur, O’Donovan has continued the form that took him into the last group of the final day of the Australian Amateur Championship at Commonwealth Golf Club followed by successfully defending his NSW Amateur title and then claiming the Avondale Amateur.

He played in the final group in Round 3 of the Queensland PGA Championship last November and has made just one bogey through 36 holes at 13th Beach.

“I'm not going to change anything,” the 21-year-old said of his plans for the weekend.

“My mate (Sean Ryan) and I have been doing a really good job. We’re just focusing on my processes and trying to stay away from the result as much as possible and I think I'll just try to have as much fun as I can.”

- Paul Munnings.