Faldo series: Chikka two behind leader, Rashid further back

Shenzhen, March 11 (IANS) India's Rashid Khan who arrived at Mission Hills bidding to become the first golfer to win the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final for three years in a row, shot a round of 74 and was four behind the leader, Malaysia's Gavin Green who shot a 70.

While Khan's challenge for a hat-trick was stalled for a while, another Indian prodigy, S Chikkarangappa, was just two shots behind the leader.

Khan the current Singapore Amateur Champion, started with five straight pars over the testing 6,577-yard Faldo layout but dropped shots at the 197-yard par-3 sixth and the 454-yard par-4 9th to go out in 38 before coming home in level par 36 with a birdie at the last.

Green, 16, his country's national amateur champion, warmed up for the Grand Final by competing in last week's Maybank Malaysian Open on the European and Asian Tours and he put that experience to good use with a fine round that included two birdies on an outward half of level par 36 and another four as he came home in 34.

Boys Under-21 : Hsieh Chi Hsien (Chinese Taipei) and Brent Sumampong (Philippines) 70, Yao Xue Feng (China) 74.

Boys Under-18 : Rashid Khan (India) 74, Khalin Joshi (India) 75, Fahmi Reza (Indonesia) 77.

Boys Under-16 : Gavin Green (Malaysia) 70, S Chikkaranggappa (India) 72, Masamichi Ito (Japan) 75.

Girls Under-21 : Thidapa Suwannapura (Thailand) 72, Chien Pei Yun 77, Holly Clyburn (England) and Yoko Ogawa (Japan) 78.

Girls Under-16 : Liu Yi Chen 73, Vivienne Chin (Malaysia) and Shi Yu Ting (China) 80.