BENGALURU: Viraj Madappa stayed ahead of the pack despite a modest one-under 71 but his lead was cut to two at the end of the third round of the Asian Games golf Trials on Thursday.
Madappa's 71 brought his three-day total to 11-under 205 and he is now two ahead of Karandeep Kochhar (69) at 9-under.
Rashid Khan shot five-under 67 and moved into Tied-third with Veer Ahlawat (69).
As four best of the five rounds will be counted, Madappa is just one ahead of Rashid Khan and Veer Ahlawat and Kochhar, who has three 69s is fourth.
In the women's section, Jahanvi Bakshi (69) and amateur Avani Prashanth (69) were still tied neck and neck at 9-under 207, while Hitaashee Bakshi (74) is third at even par 216.
With Avani likely to have the chance to discard her first round 76, she is five clear of Jahanvi in terms of two best out of three played so far.
The players will play five rounds each at the end of which the worst round will be discarded and the four best will be counted for final positions.
Rashid, the only player in the field with an Asian Games medal – a silver from 2010 – had the best round on Thursday.
He had three birdies and an eagle for a 67 while Kochhar had five birdies against two bogeys. Madappa had three birdies and two bogeys.
Avani, who had an 8-under 64 on second day, had five birdies against two bogeys and Jahanvi had four birdies and a bogey on 18th.
With Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma having been given berths based on their world ranking, the men's section has two berths on offer, while in the women's section Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik have been selected as top two based on world rankings.
So, only one more player will be picked and amateur Avani and professional Jahanvi are locked in a tight battle.
