Tata Open: Shamim Khan and Gurki Shergill share top honours

Jamshedpur: Delhi’s Shamim Khan raised hopes of defending his title at the 8th Tata Open Golf when he posted a four under 66 to emerge as the joint leader in round three here on Saturday.

Pune’s Gurki Shergill, who continued to be at the top of the leaderboard for the third successive day, currently shares the lead with Shamim at 11 under 201, courtesy of a two under 68 in the penultimate round. Sujjan Singh occupies the third place at eight under 204. While one half of the field teed off from Beldih, the other half began its round from Golmuri. Twenty-nine golfers with the best scores at the end of round two teed off from Golmuri and finished at Beldih. The par for the combined courses was 70.This format will also be followed in the final round on Sunday. Shamim Khan (65, 70, 66), who was overnight tied second, began round three in great fashion, making birdies on the first two holes and on the seventh to be three under at the turn. He then dropped his first and last bogey of the day on the 10th only to come back stronger with birdies on the next two holes.Gurki Shergill (64, 69, 68) played well on the first nine and like Shamim made the turn at three under, having collected birdies on the first, fourth and ninth. He then suffered a major setback when he dropped a double bogey on the 10th. But birdies on the 12th and 16th helped him recover lost ground and even though he bogeyed the 17th, he managed to end the day as the joint leader. Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh is three strokes behind the joint leaders (eight under 204) in the third place. Sujjan shot a one under 69 in round three. Gurbaaz Mann, Rafick Ali Mollah and Mohd Siddikur Rahman share fourth place at six under 206 while Mukesh Kumar and Vikrant Chopra are a further shot behind in tied seventh. Karan Taunk, an amateur from Jamshedpur, is tied ninth along with Vinod Kumar at four under 208. Jamshedpurs Navtez Singh is placed tied 17th with an overall score of even par 212. Bureau Report