Chinese amateurs Ji Yifan and Yin Xiaowen carded rounds of four-under 68 to grab a share of the first-round lead at the Le Coq Sportif Beijing Ladies Classic on Thursday, tied with pros Li Xiya of Shanghai, India's Sharmila Nicollet and Thailand's Wanchana Poruangrong.

China's Yang Taoli and Chen Cuixia were one shot off the pace on 69 at the 800,000 yuan RMB (125,392 U.S. dollars) China LPGA Tour tournament held at the Beijing Orient Pearl Golf Club, tied with Thailand's Wannasiri Sirisampant, South African Connie Chen, Malaysian Dianne Luke and South Korean Seo Ji-hyun.

Ji, a 17-year-old who is No. 289 in the world amateur golf ranking, carded an eagle three at the 497-yard 14th hole to get to four-under. She then could only muster par over the final four holes.

"This is my second year to play in this event," said the teenager. "At the 14th hole I was 205 yards to the edge of the green. The ball bounced on the edge and then onto the green, stopping six feet from the hole."

Li, who is playing in her second full season on the CLPGA Tour, made birdie on the final three holes to get into contention. Her round included six birdies and two bogeys.

"Those two bogeys were on the front nine. I chose the wrong club on the second hole because there were lots of differences compared to the practice rounds, like the humidity and the green speed," said the 20-year-old who was equal sixth at the Sun Car Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Classic in Jiangsu province last month.

The Beijing Orient Pearl Country Club is a 6,417-yard, par-72 layout designed by TK Pen.