Chikka tied 3rd as Hardin joins Kityama at top

S Chikkarangappa couldn't replicate his solid show of the first two days but did enough to remain three shots off the leaders after a round of 71 on the penultimate day of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on Saturday.

The third round belonged to South African Justin Hardin, who hit a bogey free 8-under 64 to share the pole position with United States' Kurt Kityama, who shot 70 on the day.

Chikkarangappa is currently tied third with Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and Japan's Masahiro Kawamura, with aggregate scores of 13 under 203.

After a creditable 12 under in the first two days, Chikka failed to break the par during the first seven holes in the front nine.

To make matters worse, he bogeyed on the 8th but restored parity with a birdie on the 9th for a par score at the halfway stage.

Chikka started the back nine with a birdie on the 10th before he had bogeys on 14th and 16th, which led him to briefly slip to sixth place.

However, the Indian redeemed himself in the final two holes with a double birdie to maintain his under-Par card and was placed tied 3rd.

A top 5 finish in an European PGA tour event will be a creditable finish for the 25- year-old.

World no 90 Hardin had a hat trick of birdies on 2nd, 3rd and 4th hole while he added two more on the 6th and 8th respectively.

In the back nine, Hardin had three more on the 11th, 13th and 18th hole as he caught up with Kityama who had three birdies and a bogey in his 70.

Among other Indians, Ajeetesh Sandhu had the best third round with four under 68 that included seven birdies and three bogeys.

Sandhu is currently tied 12th and would be bracing for a top 10 finish with a good final round.

Udayan Mane had a poor day as he shot a 73 to slip to 54th position while Viraj Madappa brought up the rear with a disappointing round of 75, that saw him slump to tied 60th.