Dhaka: Young Indian golfer Khalin Joshi charged into contention with a six-under 65 to finish three shots behind leader Mardan Mamat of Singapore after the third round of the $300,000 Bangladesh Open at the Kurmitola Golf Club here on Friday.
The 22-year-old Khalin chipped in for eagle on the 14th hole before missing two short putts for birdie and par on holes 15th and 16th respectively. Two closing birdies hauled him into contention for a first Asian Tour title.
In total, Khalin fired seven birdies on the second, fifth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 17th and 18th. Khalin has a three day total of nine-under 2014 -- one shot ahead of third placed Lee Soomin of South Korea who also scored 65 in the penultimate round.
"I’m really excited because I’ve been waiting for this moment. Hopefully I get the better out of everybody else. I’ve put myself in position to win an Asian Tour title before but didn’t close. I’m playing well and I hopes my putter holds up," Bengaluru-based Khalin said in a release.
The 47-year-old Mamat, who won three out of his four Asian Tour titles after leading for three rounds, totalled 12-under 201 following his three-under 68 on Friday.
After opening with two birdies, Mardan had to dig deep into his reserves to hole a 10-foot birdie on the last hole after running low on energy due to the humidity.
Playing in his first ever Asian Tour event, Janne Kaske of Finland had to battle hard before returning with a 72 to lie in fourth position on a 206 total. Dulal Hossain was the best placed Bangladeshi in tied seventh place along with India's Om Prakash Chouhan, who scored 65 to take his total to five-under 208.
Other Indians in the fray, Amardip Malik and Rahil Gangjee finished tied 10th and joint 15th, respectively. While Amardip shot 68 to take his total to 209, Gangjee fired 65 for 211 as total.
Sujjan Singh, Chiragh Kumar shared the 17th spot on 212, while Himmat Rai grabbed the tied 25th spot with 213 as total.
M. Dharma, Manav Jaini and Subhankar Sharma (all tied 37th), Angad Cheema (tied 48th), S. Chikka (tied 54th), Abhinav Lohan (joint 60th), Sanjay Kumar (tied 64th) and Ajeetesh Sandhu (tied 69th) will look to better their positions with good scores in the fourth and final round on Saturday.