Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open: Rashid Khan lies second, Sandhu third in tournament

Indian golfer Rashid Khan fired a superb four-under 67 in the third round to stay in contention for a title at the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open here Friday. Rashid, who has not won a tournament since 2014, took his total to 16-under 197 to stay two shots away from leader Sadom Kaewkanjana with just one more round to go.

Overnight leader, the 20-year-old Sadom brought himself close to his Asian Tour breakthrough after signing for a three-under-par 68 to take a two-shot lead heading into the final round. Sadom, a former All India Amateur winner, is making his first start on Tour after coming through the Qualifying School last December. Sadom is now 18-under-par 195 total at the Kurmitola Golf Club at the USD 350,000 Asian Tour full-field event.

India's Ajeetesh Sandhu returned with the day's best score of a 65, thanks to six birdies, including four in-a-row from the 11th hole, to trail by six shots in solo third in the tournament. Two other Indians doing well this week include Viraj Madappa (71), who is now eight-under after dropping two bogeys on back nine. Karandeep Kochhar (70) is Tied-11th at seven-under.

Jeev Milkha Singh (71) is tied 34th alongside Veer Ahlawat (74), while Honey Baisoya (72) is T-41st. Akshay Sharma (74) is T-46th, Abhijit Chadha (72) is T-53 and Aman Raj (76) is T-62nd. Rashid, winner of two Asian Tour titles, said, "I was a bit off today. I hit the ball bad. I didn't take advantage of my birdie opportunities. But I finished well. I had an eagle on 14 and a birdie on 15. Overall, it was fine. I made a couple of up and downs. I was struggling to find fairways and greens.

"I hit a driver and a rescue to the front edge of the green on 14 and holed that 25-feet putt for eagle from the fringe. For the birdie on the next, I hit a driver and a nine-iron to about six feet and holed that putt. It was tough out there. It started raining on the last few holes. "Sadom's been playing very well. I hope to keep up my good performance and continue to do the same tomorrow. Hopefully I can change something."

Siddikur Rahman remained the highest-placed Bangladeshi after posting a flawless 68 to tie in fourth place with Australia's Maverick Antcliff (69) on 202. Last year's joint runner-up Jack Harrison of England settled a further shot back in sixth following a 68.Sadom  has already broken through on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last month, and he is chasing to become the third Thai player following Thitiphun Chuayprakong (2016) and Jazz Janewattananond (2017) to win the National Open of Bangladesh.

(With inputs from agencies.)