India placed fourth in Asiad golf

The Indian men's golf team kept alive its chances of a medal for the fourth time in a row at the Asian Games, as it leapt to tied fourth with one more round to go in the 17th edition here today.
The Indian team comprising Manu Gandas (71-69-68), Udayan Mane (70-66-72), Feroz Garewal (70-73-69) and Samarth Dwivedi (71-73-75) were tied fourth with China.
With three best scores of the counting for each day, Chinese Taipei are away ahead with a three-day total of 613, while defending champions Korea are second at 617 and Thailand are third at 627. India and China are tied fourth at 628, just one shot behind the Thais.

Individually, Manu Gandas made the big move in the third round and was tied fifth alongside Udayan Mane, both at eight-under 208. Garewal, who was five-under at one stage today, before slipping to three-under 69, is tied 13th at four-under 212 and Samarth Dwivedi was 32nd at three-over 219.
Mane, who was among those tipped for a medal before the start, said, "It started off okay, but the latter half was not good. I struggled with putts today, and I did not find my right pace. I had a lot of lip-outs. My shot routine and my pre-shot routine were all good. However, it did not pan out for some reasons. I hope I do better on the final day."

He said the conditions were rather tough in the afternoon when the leaders went out. "It was very windy, especially in the afternoon. This makes the game tricky as the shots that go left or right are punished hard."

He added, "We started the tournament with an average first round, but have had good second and third rounds. We will carry on the momentum in fourth round."
In the women's section, India is still in eighth spot with a score of 438 after three rounds. Gurbani Singh (75-72-70) is the best ranked Indian at joint 14th with a three-round total of 217, while Aditi Ashok (78-75-71) was 21st and Astha Madan (75-79-78) was 24th. Thailand (406), Korea (413) and Japan (425) are the top three while India are eighth at 438.

The 2006 silver medallist Chinese Taipei golfer Pan Chen Tsung carded the day's and week's best score of seven-under 65 to move back into the top spot he occupied on the first day.
He is now 16-under 200 but just one ahead of overnight leader, Youm Eunho (68), who is 15-under 201.
In the third spot is another Korean Kim Nam hun (66) with a total of 11-under 205 and Thailand's Danthai Boonma (67) is nine-under 207.
Gandas, Mane and Taipei's Kao Teng (71) are tied fifth at eight-under 208.