Siddikur, Jamal stay in the hunt

Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman stayed in contention for his third Asian Tour title while Jamal Hossain Mollah also stayed in the mix at the end of the third round of the Panasonic Open in New Delhi yesterday.

The 30-year-old Siddikur, who won at the Delhi Golf Club once apart from finishing second on three occasions in the last five years, moved to within a stroke of leader, Chiragh Kumar of India, after enjoying a bogey-free four-under in the penultimate round on Saturday.

Having started the day slowly with his first birdie coming in on the eighth hole, the two-time Asian Tour winner picked up the pace at the back nine, firing birdies on the 11th, 14th and the 18th holes.

"This is one of my favourite golf courses and I really enjoy playing here. I'm happy with my game because I kept my ball on the fairway, stayed out of trouble and that's the key to a good score. I don't have a score in mind. I just want to focus in the final round," Siddikur told Asiantour.com at the end of the round.

While Siddikur was staying out of trouble, his compatriot Jamal kept himself within striking distance of a first-ever win on the Asian Tour despite an erratic performance in the third round. The 30-year-old golfer traded five birdies for a bogey and a double bogey to get up to joint third position at eight-under, just three shots behind Chiragh.

Chiragh battled to an even-par to hold on to the lead to stay in the hunt for a first Asian Tour victory at the 400,000-dollar event.