A disastrous back nine saw Amandeep Johl slide way down the ladder into tied 70th place after the third round of the GS Caltex Maekyung Open in Seoul on Saturday.

Johl, who seemed fine with an even par first nine, which he played on the back stretch of the course, shot a six-over 42 on second nine to card a six-over 78, that gave him a total of nine-over 225.

Johl had a birdie and a bogey on his first nine after starting at the 10th. However on the front stretch, he bogeyed the second and fourth and then double bogeyed the fifth. He added two more bogeys on sixth and seventh.

Earlier, Rahil Gangjee had missed the half-way cut.

Meanwhile, China's Liang Wen-chong stayed firmly on track to grab his second title of the season when he retained his overnight one-shot lead after the third round.

The 28-year-old Liang, who has led since the opening day at the Nam Seoul Country Club, carded a brilliant five-under 67 for a three-day score of 14-under 202 in the US $600,000 Asian Tour event.

Hot on Liang's heels is talented Korean youngster Kim Kyung-tae, who made it a two-horse race for the title after matching Liang's round with a blistering back nine to be just one behind.

Korean-born Australian Lee Won-joon, playing in his rookie season on the Asian Tour, carded the day's joint best round of 66 for third place, thanks to six birdies.

However, the 21-year-old is seven shots behind the leader. A further three strokes back was American Anthony Kang, who carded a 68 for a total of 212.

Liang has added incentive as victory tomorrow will see him top the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit.

The in-form Kim, who turned professional after winning two gold medals at the Doha Asian Games last December, produced a wonderful back nine performance that thrilled the galleries.

Last year's champion Suk Jong-yul of Korea shot a 72 for a 215 total, good for tied 18th place in what is the 13th leg of this season's Asian Tour Schedule.

Leading third round scores

202 - Liang Wen-chong (CHN) 64-71-67

203 - Kim Kyung-tae (KOR) 70-66-67

209 - Lee Won-joon (AUS) 76-67-66

212 - Anthony Kang (USA) 75-69-68

213 - Hwang In-choon (KOR) 74-71-68,

      Kim Jong-duk (KOR) 75-70-68,

      Choi Gwang-soo (KOR) 70-76-67,

      Mitchell Brown (AUS) 66-73-74,

      Kang Kyung-nam (KOR) 73-67-73,

      Shin Yong-jin (KOR) 70-69-74.