The 34-year-old Bengaluru golfer (29-30-33), who began the day with a two-stroke lead, mixed two birdies with his first bogey of the week to reach 10-under 92 heading into the final round.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Joshi, a two-time winner on the PGTI tour this season and currently 12th in the Race to the India Championship, has dropped only one shot over the opening 27 holes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Heavy rain on Thursday affected the tournament and left the course unsuitable for full 18-hole rounds, prompting the Tournament Committee to stage each of the tournament\u2019s four rounds on the back nine.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Chandigarh\u2019s Angad Cheema (34-29-30) emerged as Joshi\u2019s closest challenger after a bogey-free four-under 30. The 36-year-old climbed from tied 13th to second at nine-under 93.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Seven players shared third place at eight-under 94, leaving eight golfers within two shots of the lead heading into the final nine holes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Delhi\u2019s 18-year-old Pritish Singh Karayat (34-31-29) made the day\u2019s biggest move, carding a bogey-free five-under 29 to surge from tied 36th to a seven-way tie for third.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Karayat was joined by Ahmedabad\u2019s Anshul Patel (32-31-31), Bangladesh\u2019s Badal Hossain (33-30-31), Faridabad\u2019s Karan Pratap Singh (32-30-32), Gurugram\u2019s Veer Ahlawat (32-30-32), Chandigarh\u2019s Umed Kumar (33-29-32) and Panchkula\u2019s Raunil Kukar (31-30-33). Kukar slipped from a share of second place after carding a one-under 33.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Joshi admitted he was below his best but took satisfaction in retaining the lead on a difficult day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have my best game today; I wasn\u2019t driving the ball particularly well, didn\u2019t hit my approaches close enough and wasn\u2019t able to hole many putts. I made a lot of two-putts, but at least I didn\u2019t play myself out of the tournament. I\u2019m still very much in contention, and hopefully I can produce my best golf tomorrow,\u201d Joshi said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Play was briefly suspended due to rain and lightning, with Joshi recovering strongly after making his only bogey of the week on the 11th.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe rain and lightning caused a delay of around 15 to 20 minutes. I made a bogey on the 11th after a poor tee shot, but the interruption seemed to restart my round. I responded with birdies on the 12th and 13th, which were the highlights of the day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Play was briefly suspended due to rain and lightning, with Joshi recovering strongly after making his only bogey of the week on the 11th.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAngad and I know each other well and have been teammates in a couple of events. We have also played a lot of golf together, so there will be good camaraderie between us. It should be an exciting battle, and I\u2019m looking forward to both of us giving it our best in the final round,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n