Shanshan Feng leads in Dubai but Dame Laura Davies is in close attendance despite ankle problem

The world No 6 again went bogey-free to post 10 under for the tournament, two shots ahead of Dame Laura Davies and five clear of Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall and Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum, the winner in 2013.

Doncaster's Rebecca Hudson moved up 10 places to 32nd at the halfway point by adding a level-par 72 to her opening 73.

She had four birdies in her round but also four bogeys, three of the latter coming in consecutive holes from the eighth.

Davies fired consecutive opening rounds of 68 to sit at eight under par, despite playing with a painful torn tendon in her heavily strapped left ankle.

She made five birdies against one bogey on 17 and said: “Probably a better round today than it was yesterday because of the wind. It was really tricky.

"I hit a lot of long irons into the par-4s because a lot of the longer holes were into the wind today; whereas, we were sort of downwind yesterday."

She added: “I don't think I'm at full power, especially with the driver. It doesn't really matter. We can take half a club more. But I'm not quite hitting it as long as I normally do, and I think it's that I can't load up and really get through it because I can feel it a little bit, but maybe that's helping me hit more fairways. Swings and roundabouts, really."

Frenchwomen Ariane Provot and Jade Schaeffer are tied for fifth on four under par, while overnight co-leader Liz Young from England carded a second round of 75 to slip back into a share of seventh on three under par.

Fellow first round co-leader Carmen Alonso had a 77 to slide down to 14th place.