Thomas Detry, Calum Hill and Antoine Rozner will take a one shot lead into the final round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open after an enthralling day of nip and tuck at Heritage Golf Club.
Hill started the day with a one shot lead but he was sharing it with four others in the closing stages of round three as a host of players took advantage of favourable conditions on the island paradise.
Birdies on the last from the Scotsman, Detry and Rozner then moved them all to 16 under, a shot clear of Dane Rasmus Højgaard and American Sihwan Kim.
Italian Renato Paratore went bogey free for the first time in 48 rounds to sit at 14 under alongside South African Brandon Stone, who recovered from an opening triple bogey to post a 69.
Belgian Detry has 13 top tens from 84 European Tour events - with two in his last four - as he knocks on the door for a first European Tour win and he carded a 67 in Bel Ombre.
"I've been in this position a few times," he said. "Was in this position three weeks ago in Sun City at a big event. A few weeks before at the French Open gave myself a chance to win. I've got some experience in this domain so let's just play our own game and have fun like we have the last three days."
Hill and Frenchman Rozner both claimed two wins as they graduated from the European Challenge Tour last season and the duo are seeking their maiden European Tour victories in their rookie campaigns.
"I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully I'll get that win," said Rozner. "It’s a packed leaderboard but a victory tomorrow would be a huge accomplishment. I need to shoot something really low and I've got to keep playing the way I’ve been doing."
Højgaard is also a rookie after the 18-year-old came through the Qualifying School - where Kim regained his playing privileges - as they too seek a first European Tour win.
Detry and Rozner both birdied the gettable par five second but so did Hill to keep his nose in front before Rozner drove the short par four fifth to set up an eagle and join the lead.
He held it alone when Hill bogeyed the third after missing the green but both Hill and Detry made birdies at the fifth after driving up to the side of the green, before Rozner edged ahead as he got up and down from a bunker on the par five seventh.
A stunning approach from the rough at the sixth helped put Hill back in a share but Rozner hit back from 12 feet at the short par four ninth, with Hill responding himself at the seventh.
Detry drove the ninth and made a two putt birdie before putting an approach to five feet on the next and when he found similar range on the 11th, he led alone.
A bogey on the next dropped him back and it was soon a four way tie as Kim tapped in on the par five 14th to add to birdies on the second, seventh, ninth, tenth and 12th to go with a bogey on the third.
Detry capitalised on the 14th with two putts to once again lead on his own but he missed the green at the 16th and Højgaard soon made it a five way leading logjam.
After taking advantage of the second and the two short par fours on the front nine, he holed a long putt on the tenth and put an approach to four feet at the 11th. He found water at the 13th for a bogey but hit a stunning tee shot into the par three 15th and made a two putt gain on the par five last.
Rozner had dropped a shot on the 16th after finding a plugged lie in a bunker but he bounced back with a wonderful approach to the 17th and led alone after making the most of the 18th.
Detry joined him after reaching the final green in two and while Hill flew then green at the 16th to drop a shot, he holed long putts on his final two holes to make it a three way tie.
"It was nice to have a couple of birdies to finish off and sneak back into a tie for the lead," said Hill. "Happy with how it finished off. The scoring was good out there if you played well."
Paratore birdied the four par fives and added gains on the sixth and ninth, while Stone made six of his nine birdies in his final eight holes - with three bogeys going along with his opening triple.
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Scot Connor Syme were at 13 under, a shot clear of another Scot in Grant Forrest, Frenchman Benjamin Hebert, Dane Søren Kjeldsen and China's Wu Ashun.
