Khalin Joshi leads by one-shot at Nava Raipur Open

Raipur, Sep 17 (PTI) Khalin Joshi fired a one-under 33 to retain a one-shot lead over the field after the third round of the inaugural Nava Raipur Open 2026 here on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Bengaluru golfer (29-30-33), who began the day with a two-stroke advantage, mixed two birdies with his first bogey of the week to reach 10-under 92 heading into the final round.

Joshi, a two-time winner on the DP World PGTI this season and currently 12th in the Race to DP World India Championship, has dropped only one shot through the opening 27 holes.

Heavy rain left the course unsuitable for full 18-hole rounds, prompting the Tournament Committee to stage each of the tournament’s four rounds over the back nine.

Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (34-29-30) emerged as Joshi’s closest challenger after producing a bogey-free four-under 30.

The 36-year-old climbed from tied 13th to second at nine-under 93.

Seven players shared third place at eight-under 94, leaving eight golfers within two shots of the lead ahead of the final nine holes.

Delhi’s 18-year-old Pritish Singh Karayat (34-31-29) made the biggest move of the day, firing a bogey-free five-under 29 to surge from tied 36th into the seven-way tie for third.

Karayat was joined by Ahmedabad’s Anshul Patel (32-31-31), Bangladesh’s Badal Hossain (33-30-31), Faridabad’s Karan Pratap Singh (32-30-32), Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat (32-30-32), Chandigarh’s Umed Kumar (33-29-32) and Panchkula’’s Raunil Kukar (31-30-33).

Kukar slipped from second place after posting a one-under 33.

Joshi admitted he was below his best but took satisfaction from retaining the lead on a difficult day.

“I didn’t have my best game today. I wasn’t driving the ball particularly well, didn’t hit my approaches close enough and wasn’t able to hole many putts.

“I made a lot of two-putts, but at least I didn’t play myself out of the tournament. I’m still very much in contention,” said Joshi. PTI UNG AH AH

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