Date: October 18, 2008
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Pilkadaris in the hunt

Korean teenager Noh Seung-yul moved two strokes clear at the end of the third round of the Midea China Classic on Saturday but Australian Terry Pilkadaris is breathing down his neck. Noh, 17, carded a four-under-par 67 at Royal Orchid International Golf Club to move top of the leaderboard at 14-under overall. Pilkadaris and Park Jun-won are tied for second after carding a 66 and 67 respectively. Pilkadaris had made the ideal start with an eagle on the first and was tied at the top until Noh sank birdies on the 16th and 18th to take sole possession of the lead. “Terry got off to a good start with an opening eagle,” said Noh. “But I did not let that distract me in any way.” “I continued to play my own game, which was to attack the pins and not make any bogeys.” “I&aposve been in the leader group only to falter at the last hurdle before. But this time, I believe I&aposve matured and I&aposm ready to handle the pressure at the final round.” Pilkadaris, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour, is aware of the challenges ahead of Sunday&aposs final round but hopes that his wealth of playing experience will give him that added advantage. “Playing in the same flight with the young Koreans was a big challenge. The boys were playing so much like seasoned veterans,” said Pilkadaris. “However, I hope to draw on all my winning experience to move back into contention tomorrow.” Chinese Taipei&aposs Lin Wen-tang had started the day tied for 23rd but carded a seven-under-par 64 to move into a share of fourth place alongside Lu Wei-chih and Malaysia&aposs S Siva Chandhran. Leading third round scores from the Midea China Classic -14: Noh Seung-yul (Korea) 66-66-67 -12: Terry Pilkadaris (Australia) 67-67-67, Park Jun-won (Korea) 66-69-66 -11: Lin Wen-tang (Chinese Taipei) 68-70-64, Lu Wei-chih (Chinese Taipei) 64-72-66, S. Siva Chandhran (Malaysia) 67-68-67 -10: Rahil Gangjee (India) 70-69-64, Somkiat Srisanga (Thailand) 68-67-68 -9: Henry Epstein (Australia) 67-71-66, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Thailand) 69-68-67, Neven Basic (Australia) 69-66-69, Marcus Both (Australia) 69-66-69