Amritinder, Basad lead

Chennai, Sept 9: The twist-and-turn tale of the Color Plus Open golf tournament at the Guindy links continued on the penultimate day with...

Chennai, Sept 9: The twist-and-turn tale of the Color Plus Open golf tournament at the Guindy links continued on the penultimate day with about half-a-dozen professionals in with a realistic chance of capturing the Rs 1.21 lakh winner8217;s cheque when the event concludes on Friday.

Heading the pack were 27-year old Amritinder Singh of Chandigarh who brought in a three-under 67, and veteran Basad Ali 68 of Calcutta, as both had a three-round total of five-under 205, a stroke in front of Ali Sher.

Overnight leader Vijay Kumar of Lucknow had a two-over 72 which set him back to fourth place at three-under 207, just a stroke behind Ali Sher 70 and 206.

Further down the field, Digvijay Singh and Shiv Prakash both 208 kept themselves in the hunt as the morrow promises a virtual shootout at high noon.

Meanwhile, fancied Feroz Ali, winner of the 8217;98 Indian Open, spent a frustrating afternoon as he managed only a four-over 74 for a total of even-par 210, while veteran Rohtas Singh, with a card of 72, had211.

For Amritinder, who turned pro exactly six years ago, it was as good a outing as he could have hoped for. The winner of the 8217;98 Hero Open in Chandigarh, had a bogey-free round while picking up three strokes with as many birdies.

It has been a while since Amritinder, placed 13th on the 8217;98 Order of Merit list with seven top-10 finishes, won a title on the domestic circuit and if he felt confident of doing so on Friday, then he had reason enough as he planned to 8220;hit 18 out of 18 greens8221; on Friday.

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Two bogeys disfigured Basad Ali8217;s card which included four birdies, but the Calcutta pro felt that he had as good a chance as any to win the tournament though he predicted a tough fourth round.

Ali Sher, the two-time Indian Open winner from Delhi, had a par-70 card with three birdies and an equal number of bogeys. But he believed that it was a good round considering the windy conditions.

If Ali Sher was satisfied with his round, then surely, Vijay Kumar would have thought quite differently of hiscard of 72 that reflected his rather patchy outing when he missed even a 2-1/2 foot birdie putt on the 13th. But the 31-year old from Lucknow cannot be written off until the last shot is played and he would be banking on his long drives and fortitude on the morrow to fetch him his second consecutive title, having won the Cosmo Open here last week.

Top scores:

Professionals: 205 8211; Amritinder Singh 67,71,67, Basad Ali 70,67,68; 206 8211; Ali Sher 70,66,70; 207 8211; Vijay Kumar 68,67,72; 208 8211; Digvijay Singh 70,69,69, Shiv Prakash 70,67,71; 210 8211; Feroz Ali 68,68,74; 211 8211; Rohtas Singh 68,71,72; 212 8211; Crispin Manson 72,71,69, Mukesh Kumar 71,72,69, Manohar Dike 70,72,70, Rafiq Ali 70,72,70, GS Sethi 67,70,75.

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Amateurs: 220 8211; B Gurunath Meiyappan 69,73,78; 233 8211; S Radhakrishnan 74,78,81; 236 8211; Vivek Vijayraghavan 77,81,78, D Ponkumar 76,82,78.