Naya Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Feb 27 (PTI) Delhi golfer Shaurya Bhattacharya fired a superb eight-under 61, which moved him five shots clear at the top on day three of the Rs one crore Chhattisgarh Open here on Thursday.

Bhattacharya (64-61-61), winner on the PGTI in his rookie season last year, has a total of 21-under 186 over three days and moved one spot from his overnight tied-second position.

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Sri Lankan N Thangaraja (66-63-62) shot a 62 that propelled him 13 spots to tied-second place at 16-under 291.

Khalin Joshi (64-60-67), the halfway leader, returned a third round of 67 to stay in contention as he shared the second place with Thangaraja.

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Sixteen-year-old rookie S. Manoj (65) of Bengaluru, playing only his third professional event, was tied fourth at 15-under 192 along with Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan (64) and Bengaluru's M Dharma (66) at the Fairway Golf & Lake Resort.

Bhattacharya, 22, the 2024 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year, had a quiet front-nine where he sank three birdies in exchange for a bogey.

However, the Delhi golfer hit his stride on the back-nine where he collected six birdies.

Bhattacharya, the overwhelming favourite to win the title, said, "I hit my approaches really well today and that's exactly what you need on this course. I didn't have a great start to the season so I'm looking forward to finishing well here. I'm carrying the confidence from my victory last year.

"I will look to continue what I did in the first three rounds. I just want to keep the momentum going and execute my gameplan," Bhattacharya added.

Thangaraja mixed nine birdies with two bogeys on a day he landed most of his shots within seven feet of the pin. The Sri Lankan, who won his last title in 2023, will be among the contenders on the final day.

Khalin, a winner of six titles including one on the international stage, kept himself in the fray with a 67 that featured five birdies and three bogeys.

Among the prominent names, Udayan Mane (64) was tied seventh at 14-under 193 while Om Prakash Chouhan (65) was tied 24th at 10-under 197.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)