Report by Anand Datla
October 09, 2014: After another day of intense golf at the Delhi Golf Club, overnight leader Shankar Das retained a slender one shot lead over a bullish Anura Rohana as the stage was set for an intriguing finish on Friday. Das had lead the charts by three strokes for much of the day, but Rohana produced a spotless effort in the third round to cut his lead to just one. Das (69-66-69) is twelve under through three rounds, with Rohana (67-70-68) tapping at his heels.
Chikkarangappa was three under as he entered the back nine, but faltered badly on the final stretch to slip back into a tie for fifth. The Bengaluru golfer signed off on a 71, damaged mainly by a double bogey seven at the 14th and another bogey at the final hole.
Ajeetesh Sandhu (73-74-67) made a big move on the third day, after languishing on the wrong side of par through the first two rounds. Sandhu shot the best score of the third round, on a day when low scores to not easy to produce. Sandhu was unstoppable on the front nine, racing through the turn in just 30 strokes with six brilliant birdies.
Chiragh Kumar (69-70-69) and Rashid Khan were tied in third at 8-under after 54 holes. Khan has gotten progressively better this week, posting scores of 71-69-68 so far. He has been paired with the final group for Friday, adding an interesting dimension to the title race. Sanjay Kumar (69-70-70) and Chikka rounded off the top five going into the final round.
The day though belonged again to a confident Shankar Das. He kept in front through the day, and though the Lankan rose to narrow the lead, should feel good for another decent run in the fourth round to complete a well-deserved victory tomorrow.
Das was stung by bogeys at the 9th and 18th holes, dampening his effort a little but a 33 on the front nine helped him retain the lead. Rohana kept things single, making two birdies each on either side of his run to bring himself into contention.
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