Ajeetesh Sandhu sustained his strong grip over the proceedings as he stayed in the lead with the second best card of 3-under 69 on the third day of the Vishwa Samudra Open 2024 at the Delhi Golf Club on Thursday.
The Chandigarh pro was in a spot of trouble in the front nine, which included an unplayable ball in the bushes in the ninth hole, but recovered remarkably well in the back nine to take his overall score to 11-under 205.
Ajeetesh was two shots ahead of Jamal Hossain of Bangladesh who had slipped after leading on the opening day. Jamal shot the best card of the day, a 5-under 67, to keep his hopes of striking another title. He had won the last tournament in Assam.
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M. Dharma (4-under 212), Rashid Khan and Yuvraj Sandhu (3-under 213) apart from Honey Baisoya and Arjun Puri (1-under 215) were the only others to be under par on the tricky course.
Coping with the tough swings in fortune, some of the champion golfers like Mukesh Kumar, SSP Chawrasia and Rahil Gangjee were able to stay on par after three rounds, along with three others, to aspire for a better finish on the final day.
Overnight second, Manish Thakran fell to the joint-23rd position following a 9-over 81 on the third day. From being 5-under at the halfway stage, he slipped to 4-over 220.
The leading scores:
1. Ajeetesh Sandhu (69, 67, 69) 205; 2. Jamal Hossain (Ban) (67, 73, 67) 207; 3. M Dharma (69, 72, 71) 212; 4T. Rashid Khan (70, 71, 72), Yuvraj Sandhu (71, 71, 71) 213; 6T. Honey Baisoya (70, 75, 70), Arjun Puri (72, 70, 73) 215; 8T. Om Prakash Chouhan (75, 68, 73), Mukesh Kumar (71, 72, 73), SSP Chawrasia (75, 68, 73), Shankar Das (74, 70, 72), Rahil Gangjee (4, 71, 71), Udayan Mane (73, 71, 72) 216; 14T. K Prabagaran (72, 71, 74), MS Yashas Chandra (70, 73, 74) 217; 16. Ravi Kumar (69, 75, 74) 218.
