Thailand's Sarit Suwannarut vaulted himself to the top of the leaderboard during the early part of the round at Hidden Grace Golf Club with an impressive five birdie 31 on the front nine.

Three further birdies followed on the back nine but then a bogey on his final hole saw him sign for a joint best-of-the-day seven under par round of 65 to stand in joint second place at 11 under par with China's Ding Wenyi.

Chen, who already has two victories on the China Tour to his credit, was also rolling in birdie putts of his own and picked up four on the front nine to go out in 32.

Further birdies on 10, 12 and 17 followed, and despite the dropped shot with a three putt on the demanding final hole he still has a comfortable lead going into the final round tomorrow.

Chen revealed his jovial side when interviewed by the press after the round, referring to himself as "Mr 54-hole," which relates to the fact that he often fades during the final round of events.

"I might as well aim to shoot 73 tomorrow, then I can relax and have a good rest," said Chen. "But more seriously, I think the winning score will be 18 under par. So I need to shoot three or four under tomorrow."

Chen is well aware of the threat he faces with Ding in the final flight, and it will be a hard fought match to decide who the winner will be tomorrow.

"He has everything," Chen said of Ding. "He can drive it far, hits great iron shots and putts brilliantly."

Leading amateur Ding had a pedestrian front nine by his own high standards, going out in just one under par 35. However, his putter warmed up on the back nine where he rolled in five birdies against a solitary bogey on the difficult par four 15th hole to stand in joint second place alongside Suwannarut at 11 under par.