Three-way battle to savour first European Tour triumph

Manuel Elvira, Ewen Ferguson, Sam Hutsby, and Lorenzo Scalise will head into the weekend one shot off the lead.

All three of the leaders are searching for their first European tour win, after previously having finished second.

Rikuya Hoshino, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 77 and the winner of the Qatar Masters two weeks ago, is tied for 45th at one under, alongside Australian Haydn Barron, who went round in 69.

Barron's Australian compatriots Connor McKinney (75) and Thomas Power Horan (71) failed to make the cut after finishing at four over.