NEW DELHI: From experiencing the ecstasy of sinking a dream eagle from over 60-feet to be five-under for the day after eight holes to the exasperation of dropping six shots over the last 10 holes, Harmeet Kahlon went through a range of emotions as he kept alive the Indian challenge for the better part of Saturday.

By the time an understandably frustrated Kahlon signed off with a double-bogey on the par-5 18th hole, he found seven players with better scores on the leaderboard, headed by overnight leader Thaworn Wiratchant, after the penultimate round of the $300,000 Hero Honda Indian Open golf tournament here.

At the end of an eventful day at the Delhi Golf Club course, the 38-year-old Wiratchant enlarged his overnight lead to three strokes at 14-under 202. If the seasoned Thai moved closer to this third title this season and seventh overall on the Asian Tour, his partners in the leaders' group, Kahlon (73) and Gerald Rosales (78) were looking to salvage whatever they can on the final day.

Even as all the focus was on the Kahlon-Wiratchant duel, another Thai Prom Meesawat and South Africa's Hendrik Buhrmann, playing right ahead of the leader's group, shot an identical 69 to share the second spot at 205.

Improved efforts

On the brighter side for India, Jyoti Randhawa, Jaiveer Virk and Gaurav Ghei came up with improved efforts. Randhawa carded bogey-free 67 to climb to the fourth spot and promised to make a charge on the final day. Virk shot a 68 to share the fifth spot with two others. Ghei, after a 69, found himself in the company of Digvijay Singh and Kahlon in the joint-eighth place. However, Arjun Atwal fell out of contention for the top prize with a round of 73.

During the day there were a few bright moments for the Indians. Kahlon led Wiratchant by two strokes after the eighth-hole eagle took him to 14-under. Digvijay, after birdies on the first two holes, had matched Wiratchant's overnight tally of 10-under even before the Thai teed-off. There was also a time when five Indians were in the top-10 bracket. However, the leaderboard looked much different in the evening. In fact, the scenario changed dramatically in the space of four holes on either side of the turn for Kahlon. Holding a two-stroke lead, Kahlon lost his ball on the ninth with his tee-shot landing in the jungle. Following a two-stroke penalty, Kahlon bogeyed the hole. But with Wiratchant responding with another birdie, he tied for lead with Kahlon at 13-under.

Into sole lead

On the 11th hole, Wiratchant regained the sole lead with an eight-foot birdie. He found his lead stretched to three strokes after the par-3 12th, where his birdie came against Kahlon's bogey. Later, the gap between the two stood enlarged to six strokes after the 18th where Kahlon double-bogeyed in response to Wiratchant's 20-foot birdie. Overall, even as Kahlon struggled with his drives and chip-and-putt routine, Wiratchant, proved his putting abilities once again.

Interestingly, Randhawa had found himself in the joint-second spot well after he had finished his round. It happened before Meesawat and Buhrmann birdied the final hole to go 11-under. Randhawa, who shot five birdies on this day, regretted not sinking at least two more on this day. In fact, Virk fired seven birdies but finally settled for a card of 68.

The scores (Indians unless stated): Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) (68, 66, 68) 202; Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) (66, 70, 69) and Prom Meesawat (Tha) (69, 67, 69) 205; Jyoti Randhawa (69, 70, 67) 206; Jaiveer Virk (68, 71, 68), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) (68, 71, 68) and Marcos Both (Aus) (70, 66, 71) 207; Gaurav Ghei (67, 72, 69), Anura Rohana (Sri) (64, 75, 69), Bryan Saltus (USA) (68, 70, 70), Digvijay Singh (66, 70, 72) and Harmeet Kahlon (71, 64, 73) 208; Muhammad Munir (Pak) (68, 72, 69) and Yusuf Ali (72, 67, 70) 209.

Other Indians (with sub-par scores): Shamim Khan (71, 68, 71) 210; Rahil Gangjee (72, 71, 68), Mukesh Kumar (71, 69, 71), Shiv Kapur (70, 69, 72), Arjun Atwal (70, 68, 73) 211; A. S. Lehal (73, 70, 69), Ashok Kumar (69, 71, 72) 212; S. S. P. Chowrasia (75, 69, 69) 213; Jasjeet Singh (A) (70, 74, 70), Vinod Kumar (69, 74, 71), Rahul Ganapathy (67, 75, 72), C. Muniyappa (70, 69, 75) 214 and Amandeep Johl (71, 71, 73) 215.

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