Muniyappa stays on course

Just when it seemed like the continuously lively top of the Indian Open leaderboard had finally found direction....

Just when it seemed like the continuously lively top of the Indian Open leaderboard had finally found direction,there came more confusion. C Muniyappas big smile after sinking his birdie putt on the finishing hole to take a one-shot lead from the muddle of names going up and down throughout the afternoon was,for just a while,put on hold.

Just as Muniyappa was finishing his round,phone calls to tournament officials complained of the Bangalore player having touched the sand with his club while trying to remove a chocolate wrapper from the bunker on the 18th hole. It was a long wait for Muniyappa in the scorers tent as officials examined video evidence. The storys ending was happy for the 32-year-old,who was cleared to sign on a card of one-under 71,giving him a three-day total of 10-under 206.

In second place,just a shot back,are five names,Indians Digvijay Singh and Harendra Gupta,the second rounds joint leader Lee Sung,and Australian Marcus Both. And just another shot behind are three more names,making the last round completely wide open.

The hyperactivity of the leaderboard was mirrored in most of the top names rounds. Nerves had joined Muniyappa for the start of his round as he missed small birdie putts on the first and third holes. On the fifth,iffy putting gave him a bogey,and that seemed to wake him up. He made three straight birdies right after to get to two-under,and though there were two bogeys on the back nine,the birdie finish made the big difference.

Gupta,who will play in the final pairing on Sunday with Muniyappa,managed to keep his card clean. He has been highly consistent on the domestic tour this season but never this close to an Asian Tour title. He made five birdies for a five-under 67. Digvijay made a double bogey on the par-four 12th,but the one-under 71 ensured he kept pace. Arjun Atwals two-under 70 pushed him two places up to tied 17th ,while Michael Campbell shot a 78 to be tied 66th.

Leaderboard: -10 206 C Muniyappa IND 66,69,71

-9 207 Marcus Both AUS 69,71,67; Digvijay Singh IND 68,68,71; Harendra Gupta IND 68,72,67; Lee Sung KOR 65,70,72

-8 208 Adam Blyth AUS 64,72,72; Jbe Kruger RSA 70,68,70; Kwanchai Tannin THA 68,69,71

-7 209 Mukesh Kumar IND 71,68,70

-6 210 Gaurav Ghei IND 70,72,68; Antonio Lascuna PHI69,71,70; Unho Park AUS 67,72,71; Ashok Kumar IND 71,71,68; Amandeep Johl IND 70,71,69; Mars Pucay PHI 70,67,73; Jason King AUS 66,73,71