India's Khalin Joshi in Contention for Asian Tour Title

Khalin Joshi showed the depth of Indian talent, as he moved up to the second place despite a stretch of three bogeys over five holes on the back nine in the third round of the 300,000 US Dollars Bashundhara Bangladesh Open here on Friday.

Joshi (65), who was tied seventh at the end of the second round is now second, but three shots behind veteran Mardan Mamat (68) of Singapore who birdied the last hole to pull three shots clear after shooting a three-under-par 68.

"I'm really excited because I've been waiting for this moment. Hopefully I get the better out of everybody else. I've put myself in position to win an Asian Tour title before but didn't close it well. I'm playing well and I hope my putter holds up," said Joshi, a two-time winner on Indian PGTI Tour.

Joshi will now play in the lead group on the final day. Another Indian, Om Prakash Chouhan playing his first Asian Tour event outside India, added a five-under 66 to his first two rounds of 69 and 73 to be placed seventh at five-under 208, while India's best performer in first round, Amardip Malik, rebounded after a second lapse to shoot 68 on third day and he was tied 10th at three-under 210.

Meanwhile, Rahil Gangjee's third round 67 moved him up to tied 15th at two-under-211 and Sujjan Singh and Chiragh Kumar were the other two Indians in the top-20 as both were tied 17th at one-under-212.

Joshi, who had seven birdies, added, "I was in contention in Jakarta earlier this year and at the SAIL Open in 2013. I'm playing well now. I won my second title on the Indian tour this year so my game feels good."

He added, "That eagle came after two bogeys so that really helped me. But I missed a short birdie and par putt in the next two holes. My putting hasn't been great so I need a good putting day tomorrow."

The 22-year-old Joshi, who turned pro only in 2013 and is playing only 12 event on the Asian Tour. His best has been tied 11th at the SAIL-SBI Open in his rookie year in 2013. Joshi's first two rounds were 71-68 and on Friday he had three birdies on front nine, followed by two more on 10th and 11th.

Bogeys on 12 and 13 set him back he hit back with a chip-in from 25 yards for eagle. A bogey on 16th was followed by two closing birdies on a day when he needed only 23 putts for the round.

Himmat Singh Rai was a further shot behind in tied 25th. M Dharma, Manav Jaini and Shubhankar Sharma occupied tied 37th at two-over-215.

Among the other Indians in the field, Angad Cheema was tied 48th at three-over-216, Chikkarangappa was tied 54th at four-over-217, Abhinav Lohan was tied 60th at five-over-218, Sanjay Kumar was tied 64th at six-over-219 and Ajeetesh Sandhu was tied 69th at seven-over-220.

Mamat, 47, who won three out of his four Asian Tour titles after leading for three rounds, totalled 12-under-par 201 to continue his dominant form at the challenging Kurmitola Golf Club.

Young talent Lee Soomin of Korea also charged into contention on matching 65s to trail Mardan by four shots - one behind Joshi.

Playing in his first ever Asian Tour event, Janne Kaske of Finland had to battle hard before returning with a 72 to lie in fourth position on a 206 total. Dulal Hossain was the best placed Bangladeshi in tied seventh place following a 72.