S.S.P. Chowrasia’s six-under helped him jump to second place from fifth with a total of 13-under 203 in the penultimate round of the Hero Indian Open on Saturday.
A stroke adrift, Rashid Khan – who carded a seven-under 65 (the day’s best), along with Australian Unho Park – improved 10 spots to be joint third with Filipino Angelo Que.
Mohammad Siddikur, who opened up a four-stroke lead over Chowrasia, reaped rewards for his discipline. A couple of 66s, followed by a 65 (his second error-free round), spoke of the Bangladeshi’s consistency.
Anirban Lahiri, who started off with four birdies on the first eight holes, stumbled on the ninth with a double bogey. He made five more birdies, but his second double bogey on the 13th pushed him down to fifth.
Rahil Gangjee's five birdies were negated by two bogeys and two double bogeys as he managed a one-over.
Rashid had an eagle, eight birdies and three bogeys. Chowrasia overcame some erratic hitting to find his rhythm. The only blot was a dropped shot on the sixth, where he found the bushes. However, he gained four strokes off the last five.
The scores: Third round: Mohammad Siddikur (Ban) (66, 66, 67) 199; S.S.P. Chowrasia (69, 68, 66) 203.
Rashid Khan (69, 70, 65) and Angelo Que (Phi) (69, 68, 67) 204; Anirban Lahiri (71, 67, 67) 205; Unho Park (Aus) (68, 73, 65) and Adam Groom (Aus) (69, 67, 70) 206.
Chiragh Kumar (69, 70, 69), Seuk-Hyun Baek (Kor) (69, 69, 70) and Rahil Gangjee (66, 69, 73) 208; Antonio Lascuna (Phi) (71, 70, 68) 209; Mithun Perera (Sri) (70, 72, 68), Jake Higginbottom (Aus) (72, 70, 68), Anthony Kang (USA) (70, 73, 67), Scott Barr (Aus) (71, 70, 69), Sung Lee (Kor) (70, 70, 70), Sanjay Kumar (70, 68, 72) and Shankar Das (67, 70, 73) 210.
