Kapur moves into contention for title in Taipei, tied 3rd

Indian golfer Shiv Kapur turned in a fine five-under 67 in the second round to be tied third, putting him in contention for his first Asian Tour title since 2005, at the inaugural Yeangder Heritage here.

Kapur, who is finding his game back, after two testing years -- during which he lost his card in Europe --, is eight-under 208 and just two shots behind leader Yikeun Chang of Korea (68).

In the second place is Gavin Green (66) at nine-under and then Kapur is tied for third with five others.

Among other Indians, Himmat Rai (69) stayed in Tied-18th place at four-under 212, while Khalin Joshi (70), Chiragh Kumar (75), S Chikkarangappa (75) and Sujjan Singh (69) are all at even par and Tied-34th. Rahil Gangjee (74) is Tied-59th at four-over 220.

Kapur birdied each of his four par-fives. He birdied second and third and then lapsed with bogeys on fourth and sixth to go back to even for the day.

But a birdie on seventh and then four more on back nine, on 10th, 14th, 16th and 17th saw him jump back into the mix for the title.

"It is nice to be in contention after all that I went through last year. Lying on the hospital bed you think about putting yourself back into contention. It is nice to be back, feeling fit and seeing my name on the leaderboard," Kapur said.

"I had liver abscess and had to go for surgery. I was out for three months (since September, 2016) and came back a little sooner than I should have. I was pushing my body really hard but now I finally feel that things are back to normal.

I'm just glad to be back and playing golf," he added.

Chang charged into contention for a first Asian Tour victory after shooting a third round four-under 68.

The 23-year-old, who won the Qualifying School last year, birdied two in his opening three holes before adding another two birdies to seize the lead on 10-under 206 at the National Golf Country Club.

Chang holds a one-shot edge over Malaysian rising star Gavin Green, who was also bogey-free in his round of 66 at the USD 300,000 Asian Tour event.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)