Only two players from India found a bag, Kavin Shah (89 bb) and Tarun Goyal (46 bb). Both players have been impressive since the start. Goyal was one of the top stacks at the end of Day 2 and Shah laddered up high in Day 4 and is well on his way to surpassing his 446th finish at the 2017 Main Event.
Japan once had over 50 players into Day 2, that has now trimmed to just 6 players vying for the title: Hiroki Nawa (72 bb), Tasuko Maruo (40bb), Tomoki Matsuda (32 bb), Ryoh Hasegawa (26 bb), Kyosuke Nagami (25 bb), and Takumi Matsumoto (19 bb). Bracelet winners Naoya Kihara and Shiina Okamoto along with high roller Hiroyuki Noda were among those that failed to advance.
There is still hope for Vietnam with Quang Pham as the lone flag bearer through to Day 5. He is in good shape with 53 bb. For Taiwan, only four remain led by the highly decorated Nevan Chang with 70 bb. Chang has been running hot at the series with multiple deep runs that includes near bracelet 3rd place finish. Close by is Chi Jen Chen with 63 bb. While most of Chen’s accomplishments are on home soil, he is revered as one of Taiwan’s best. Joining Chen are Haoshan Huang (53 bb), and Kuan Yu Lin (39 bb).
*Day 5 is now underway. Stay tuned for the next update.