Hangzhou, China: Narrowly denied a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Aditi Ashok is perfectly poised to make amends in the women’s golf tournament at the 19th Asian Games.

Thanks to a brilliant third-round of 11-under-par 61 at the Westlake International Golf Club, the 25-year-old Indian soared to the top of the leaderboard.

Going into Sunday’s final round, Ashok has a 54-hole total of 22-under 194. That’s seven strokes clear of half-way leader Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand and eight in front of third-placed Lin Xiyu of China.

Also in medal contention are three of the region’s leading amateurs – World Amateur Golf Ranking number three Saki Baba of Japan, number four Kim Min-sol of Korea and Thai Eila Galtsky, the reigning Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion.

However, Yin Ruoning, who last week became only the second Chinese to reach number one in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, has her work cut out. 

Joint second after round two, Yin made a double-bogey six on the opening hole in round three and never recovered, signing for a two-over 74 that leaves her 13 strokes behind Ashok and five shots off third place.

Ashok’s heroics have also raised Indian hopes in the team tournament where they leapfrogged China and Thailand into first place.

In the event in which the best two daily scores are counted for each team, India’s tally of 29-under 403 is one ahead of Thailand and three clear of China. There’s then a six-stroke gap back to Korea and Japan.

Having opened with scores of 67 and 66, Ashok wasted no time in endorsing her medal credentials on Saturday with an outward seven-under 29, including five birdies and an eagle-two at the ninth. She picked up further strokes at 12 and 15 before extending her advantage with further gains at 17 and 18.

Currently 47th in the Rolex Rankings, Bangalore-born Ashok was in second place heading into the final round at the Tokyo Olympics. Agonisingly she missed out on a medal there, finishing fourth, just two shots behind American gold medallist Nelly Korda.

Leading Third-Round Scores, Individual

194 – Aditi Ashok (India) 67-66-61
201 – Arpichaya Yubol (Thailand) 67-65-69
202 – Lin Xiyu (China) 67-67-68
205 – Saki Baba (Japan) 65-72-68
206 – Eila Galitsky (Thailand) 69-70-67; Kim Min-sol (Korea) 69-68-69; Patcharajutar Kongkraphan (Thailand) 69-67-70; Liu Yu (China) 67-68-71
207 – Yoo Hyun-jo (Korea) 68-73-66; Yin Ruoning (China) 67-66-74

Full Third-Round Scores, Teams

403 – India (138-134-131)
404 – Thailand (136-132-136)
406 – China (134-133-139)
412 – Korea (137-140-135); Japan (134-139-139)
419 – Chinese Taipei (139-139-141)
428 – Singapore (143-139-146); Hong Kong, China (142-140-146)