SSP Chawrasia moves into contention at tied fourth in Queens Cup

Koh Samui, Thailand: A second successive 67 saw SSP Chawrasia make a big jump to tied fourth place in the Queen's Cup at the Santiburi Samui Country Club here on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Chawrasia, winner of three Asian Tour titles, two of which were also co-sanctioned by European Tour, carded 67 that included six birdies and two bogeys.

As for the other Indians who made the cut, Chiragh Kumar (70) was tied 15th, down from overnight tied 13th while Khalin Joshi (75) dropped to 40th from 18th and Rashid Khan (74) went down from 33rd to 45th.

Japan's Akinori Tani, a seasoned player at 39, took the lead with a seven-under 64 and at 11-under, he is three clear of his nearest rival, Prayad Marksaeng (71).

In the third place is Siddikur Rahman (67) while five players, including Chawrasia and Sri Lanka's Mithun Perera (68), are tied fourth.

Chawrasia, who is recovering from a shoulder niggle, said, "I have been hitting the ball well and I am looking forward to the final day. There are a lot of good and in-form players in the Top-5 and they can all contend despite the leader being at 11-under."

On his game in the third round, he said, "I played very good today, to be honest. I putted well but I am not hitting the ball as good. It's a little bit wet out there due to the rain earlier but it was not as tough compared to the first two rounds. It wasn't really windy. The course is a little bit soft today. I have been playing good this week."

Chawrasia said he would like to stick to the same mindset in the upcoming rounds.

"I hope I can continue to play like how I did in the last three rounds tomorrow. I will stick to the same mindset tomorrow and will see how it goes. I almost eagled the first hole as I hit my second shot to about one-foot from the pin and that got me off to a good start. I also had a 20-feet putt for birdie on the fifth hole which was one of the notable birdies for me today.

"It (the game) is coming around. After the Hero Indian Open, when I finished second, I did not play much as I missed a few events for various factors including a small injury problem, but now things are falling in place," he said.

Chawrasia has had two Top-10s in his three Asian Tour appearances this season.

Tani put himself in prime position for a breakthrough victory when he charged into a three-shot lead after signing for a sensational seven-under-par 64 in the penultimate round.

Having started the round with a four-shot deficit, Tani kept his cool in the heat of battle to return with a flawless round highlighted by seven birdies and a three-day total of 11-under-par 202. Kept his cool in the heat of battle to return with a flawless round highlighted by seven birdies and a three-day total of 11-under-par 202.

Tani, who returned in the morning to complete his remaining two holes from his previous round, showed poise and control for a bogey-free outing.

"I stuck to my game plan out there. I came back to finish my second round in the morning but the course was still wet and I closed with a bogey on the ninth. Although it wasn't a good finish, I told myself to stay positive," said Tani.

Despite falling off the lead, Prayad kept his head high and is determined to put up a strong charge when he heads into the all-important final round tomorrow.

"Actually, I would prefer to be the chaser rather than the leader. Today just didn't go as I planned. I got up too early to prepare and didn't expected to start the round so late due to the delay of second round resumption in the morning," said the 49-year-old Thai, who won the Queen's Cup in 2013.

Two-time Asian Tour winner Siddikur, who has finished inside top-10 on four occasions in previous editions of the Queen's Cup, wants to keep his expectations low.

"I played well and I made six birdies again which is great. Like I said earlier, I am still on the road to recovery from my back injury so I don't want to play with any expectations. I just want to play my own game and enjoy myself out there. I will be happy if I can cap another top-10 finish this year," said the 30-year-old Siddikur, who traded six birdies against two bogeys.