Hedblom: Leader by two
Third round leaders:
-17 P Hedblom (Swe)
-15 D Vancsik (Arg)
-14 S Dyson (Eng)
-14 J Randhawa (Ind)
-14 S Kjeldsen (Den)
Also see
News
Defending champion Peter Hedblom leads the Malaysian Open by two shots after a third round of 65.
The Swede's seven-under-par round included seven birdies, with five of them coming on the back nine.
He birdied the final two holes to move clear of Argentina's Daniel Vancsik and put himself in sight of a successful defence of his title at the Kota Permai Golf Club.
Twelve months ago Hedblom ended an 11-year wait for a second European Tour title with his victory at the same course.
On that occasion Simon Dyson finished two shots back in third place, and the Englishman is in the running once again after a third round of 67.
Hedblom and Dyson were among the players still to complete their second rounds by the close of play on Friday, and when they came out early on Saturday they were unable to improve their scores.
Fast start
However, Hedblom soon began to move up the leaderboard as he birdied two of the first three holes in his third round.
A run of seven successive pars slowed his progress, before a flurry of birdies pushed him clear of the field.
His run began at the par-four 11th and he picked up further shots at the 12th and 13th. Having narrowly missed a birdie putt at 16, he made amends with birdies at 17 and 18.
Vancsik stormed through the field with a superb eight-under-par round of 64, which began in dramatic fashion with an eagle at the par-five first.
He was out in 33 after dropping his only shot of the day at the ninth, but like Hedblom he made five birdies over the back nine to come home in 31.
Soren Kjeldsen is tied with Dyson in third place after a bogey-free round of 69, although the Dane failed to make the most of his many opportunities.
An eagle at seven and a birdie at eight were all he had to show for his efforts, although he has now gone through 54 holes with only one dropped shot.
Jyoti Randhawa also moved to 14 under for the tournament with a round of 70, but Nick Dougherty's title challenge stalled after a disappointing 72.
The overnight leader is five shots off the pace, tied for sixth place with Scott Barr, Darren Clarke and Charl Schwartzel.
If a bogey at the last was a setback for Dougherty, it was nothing compared to the troubles of Danny Chia, who had shared the overnight lead.
The Malaysian, whose first dropped shot of the tournament came at his 36th hole, was soon in trouble with a bogey at the second and he followed that up with a triple-bogey at the par-four third.
Five further bogeys followed in an eight-over round of 80, dropping him back to a share of 55th place.
