Manu Gandas makes move with 64 in round three, joins Shaurya Bhattacharya at top of leaderboard

Former PGTI Order of Merit champion Manu Gandas (66-69-64), who was overnight tied seventh and nine shots off the lead, put together an eagle, five birdies and a bogey on Thursday that moved his total to 11-under 199, according to a release.

Shaurya Bhattacharya (64-62-73), the halfway leader by four shots, was not at his best on day three as his two birdies and five bogeys saw him slip into the joint lead at 11-under 199.

Om Prakash Chouhan (64), Akshay Sharma (64) and Sanjeev Kumar (67) were all tied third at 10-under 200.

Manu Gandas, who is well-versed with the Tollygunge Club course having won at the venue in the past, was slow off the blocks with his first birdie coming on the Par-3 eighth courtesy a terrific tee shot. Gandas was then on a roll as he followed that up with another birdie on the ninth and a 17-feet eagle conversion on the 10th.

Manu's bogey on the 12th didn't trouble him much as he rallied with three birdies thereafter which included a chip-in on the 14th and an 18-feet conversion on the 15th.

Manu said, "My striking off the tees stood out today and so did my approach shots. I created a lot of opportunities for myself. I would say that I have not been in the groove so far this season but I'm slowly getting there. I also like playing at Tollygunge and I have some good memories of my victory here back in 2024. That is something I will draw inspiration from in the final round."

Shaurya Bhattacharya, the leader in the first two rounds, had an off day on Thursday as he missed a number of chip-putts.

Shaurya said, "The club selection and the decision-making by me was not correct today. The consistency wasn't there. I will now look to restart and try to replicate what I did in the first two rounds."

The Kolkata duo of Mohammad Sanju and Divyanshu Bajaj were both placed tied 36th at one-under 209. (ANI)