Pawan Kumar moved to second place with a round of 68

Rashid carded a round of even-par 70 to stay put a nine-under for the tournament, still 11 clear of the nearest contender. His clubmate from the Delhi Golf Club, Pawan Kumar, returned a card of two-under 68, and with the rest of the field continuing the downward

slide, at second place at two-over 212, Pawan holds a sizable lead of three shots over the next best on the leaderboard. Jamshedpur’s Karan Taunk, improved on his performance on the first two days to card a round of even-par 70 and is in sole third place at five-over 215. Three players—Abhinav Lohan, Ajay Singh and Moin Malak are tied at fourth place, one behind Taunk.

With his sight set on reaching the target of 15-under for the week, Rashid started well, with a good approach shot giving him a straightforward putt for birdie, which he went on to convert. But he never managed to carry on that momentum, giving back a shot to the course at the par-3 sixth, where he failed to make the up-and-down from the bunker. A birdie came his way on the par-5 8th, but he went two steps back with a double bogey on the next hole, where his third shot found the water body to the right of the green.

He was two-over for the round through 14 holes before birdies on the 15th and 17th stemmed the loss of shots and brought him back to level-par for the day, and he managed to stay at the number through the remaining holes.

Meanwhile, in the group ahead, it was Pawan Kumar who was making the biggest move, as he kept accumulating birdies at regular intervals. With just two holes left in the day, he was four-under for the round, but consecutive bogeys on the last two holes pulled him back, although, still four clear of the players in third place.

Karan Taunk, who carded a round of 70, will now play in the leadergroup along with Rashid and Pawan. While the stage seems set for Rashid to defend his title, it remains to be seen if the remaining 18 holes at the Rambagh Golf Club will spring any surprise.

Leading Scores:

201: RASHID KHAN (65,66,70)

212: PAWAN KUMAR (74,70,68)

215: KARAN TAUNK (72,73,70)

216: AJAY SINGH (75,73,68)

216: ABHINAV LOHAN (76,71,69)

216: MOIN MALAK (70,76,70)

217: RAHUL BAJAJ (70,74,73)

217: IMAMUL HAQUE (70,72,75)

217: VAROON PARMAR (67,75,75)

218: ROMARIO JAMES (76,70,72)

218: SIMARJEET SINGH (74,71,73)

220: SAMARESH SARDAR (76,73,71)

220: KARAN VASUDEVA (72,76,72)

220: ANGAD CHEEMA (74,72,74)

220: PARVESH BAISOYA (73,71,76)

220: H.S.KANG (75,69,76)