In the third round held on Wednesday, Hamal defeated Prakash Nepal and in the next he edged past FM Sujendra Prasad Shrestha. [break]
Along with Hamal, Badrilal Nepali and Prachandaman Malakar of Nepal, Saurabh Anand and Dilip Das of India have four points apiece. Meanwhile, top-rated Russian GM Alexander Fomani was held to a draw in the fourth round while Australian IM Alexander Bol suffered defeat.
Seven players -- Fomani, Bangladeshi FM Islam Ammunel, Nepal´s Krishna Thapa, Rajan Puri, Ganeshman Duwal, Purushottam Chaulagain and India´s Nildhari Shekhar Bhattacharya -- are in the sixth position with 3.5 points each.
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