"The wind was different from the first two days. I'm very pleased with the way I hit the ball, but just couldn't hole any putts. I played well enough to shoot under-par, so I'm a little disappointed, but I'm still in there."

Yuan Hao of China cleans his club on the 17th tee during 3rd round action.[David Paul Morris/World Sport Group]

Barnes, who finished joint-11th in last week’s Volvo China Open, will form a two-pronged Aussie assault with good friend Scott, 26, who was three-under after the first nine but fell back after dropping three shots on 10 and 11.

"Craig and I have played a lot with each other, including at the Volvo China Open last week, and the two of us will have to tackle Zhang together," Barnes laughed. "Today was probably the best crowd I've played in front of in Asia, so I'm looking forward to the final round."

Yuan, 29, picked up birdies on four and seven, but his round started to come apart at the par-five 11th, where the big-hitter racked up a triple-bogey.

(L-R) Kurt Barnes of Australia shakes hands with Zhang Lianwei of China as Yuan Hao of China looks on during 3rd round action.[David Paul Morris/World Sport Group]

"When I fell three strokes behind Zhang and Barnes, I wanted to catch up with them and I played very aggressively," said Yuan, who has yet to win on the Omega China Tour. "I did well on the front nine, but I did poorly on the back nine".

Liu Guojie and Thailand's Wisut Arjanawat, who had three top-10 finishes on last year's Asian Tour, shared sixth place on one-over after shooting 73 and 74 respectively.

Former acrobat Yuan Tian (68), Korean teenager Eom Jae-woong (71) and Fan Zhipeng share eighth on three-over.

Defending champion Liao Guiming shot 70 to move to four-over, level with 2007 winner Wu Kangchun (78), Chinese Taipei legend Lu Wen-teh (75) and Australians Peter Wilson (71) and Tristan Lambert (75).

Sofitel Zhongshan IGC Open, Nanjing, Omega China Tour

Leading third-round scores (par 72; Chinese unless stated):

211 – Zhang Lianwei 69-70-72

212 – Kurt Barnes (AUS) 69-70-73

215 – Craig Scott (AUS) 74-69-72

216 – Ye Xionghui 74-67-75, Yuan Hao 71-69-76

217 – Liu Guojie 76-68-73, Wisut Arjanawat (THA) 74-69-74

219 – Eom Jae-woong (KOR) 76-72-71, Fan Zhipeng 73-74-72, Yuan Tian 79-72-68

220 – Peter Wilson (AUS) 75-74-71, Tristan Lambert (AUS) 71-74-75, Lu Wen-teh (TPE) 73-72-75, Wu Kangchun 70-72-78, Liao Guiming 76-74-70

221 – Liang Shengli 72-75-74, Zhang Xinjun (A) 75-71-75, Cui Qiang 72-73-76, Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA) 76-74-71

222 – James Su Dong 70-71-81, David Diaz (AUS) 75-76-71

223 – Xing Xiaoxuan 74-73-76

224 – Xu Qin 79-70-75, Gu Cuilin 75-73-76, Jason Robertson (RSA) 72-75-77, Deng Yonghong 72-72-80, Xie Pengfei 73-77-74, Chen Jian 73-77-74

Selected scores:

225 – Li Chao 79-73-73, Jason King (AUS) 75-74-76, C.J Gatto (USA) 72-74-79, Lu Chien-soon (TPE) 78-74-73

226 – Brad Andrews (AUS) 72-78-76, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 78-73-75, Shang Lei 75-76-75

228 – Huang Mingjie 75-75-78

230 – Wu Weihuang 76-72-82, Lee Joung-wook (KOR) 74-74-82

232 – Tang Shing-chi (HKG) 76-76-80

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(China.org.cn April 26, 2009)