Siddikur, Sujjan take lead into final day

Bangladesh's ace golfer Siddikur Rahman and India's Sujjan Singh shared joint lead at the end of the third round of BTI Open, raising prospects of a mouth-watering finish in today's fourth and final round.

Siddikur, a two-time Asian Tour winner, and Sujjan, a one-time Asian Development Tour winner, shared a two-stroke lead over the chasing pack, which features a number of prominent golfers from both Bangladesh and India.

The 31-year-old Siddikur, who had been going through a lean patch of form, showed signs of his old self as he produced a bogey-free (66) in the third round at the Kurmitola Golf Club yesterday afternoon, after having wrapped up the second at two-under-par (70). The ace golfer fired a total of nine birdies over 24 holes on the third day and was looking forward to grabbing the fifth PGTI title of his career in front of his home crowd.

"I've not had a great first few months in 2016. I'll look to turn it around here with a good final round," Siddikur said at the end of day's play. "It'll be highly satisfying to win in front of my home crowd once again. I have the advantage of local knowledge here but Sujjan [Singh] and Udayan [Mane] are also in good form and therefore would provide tough competition on the final day."

The leaderboard shows the two golfers on top at 14-under-par (202). PHOTOS: FIROZ AHMED

Sujjan, too, came out firing on all cylinders in the third round as he knocked down five birdies on the first 10 holes. He suffered a minor blip on the 13th where he dropped his only shot of the day. The 36-year-old, however, rallied with three consecutive birdies from the 15th through the 17th to end the round with a flourish.

"I didn't play too well at the Indian Open and as a result made a few changes in my swing. I feel those changes are now shaping up well and producing the desired results. I'll have to be at the top of my game to outscore Siddikur in the final round," said the Chandigarh lad.

Udayan Mane and Deepinder Singh Kullar (10-under-206) occupied the third and fourth places respectively while Bangladesh's Sajib Ali and Dulal Hossain, the overnight leaders, lay a further stroke behind at nine-under-par (207).

Earlier 57 players completed their second rounds in the morning session before the cut was declared at three-over-par (147), with 56 professionals and one amateur making it through.