Kuala Lumpur: It’s been a disappointing campaign for Danny Chia and Shaaban Hussin at the CIMB Classic but the local duo pledged to bow out with a strong final salvo tomorrow.

Shabaan was the best domestic performer during Saturday’s  third round and despite nursing a sore shoulder, carded a one-under 70 while compatriot Chia’s woes continued as he returned with a two-over 73 at The MINES Resort & Golf Club.

The former’s effort however did not lift him off the bottom of the leaderboard while Chia remained sole 45th in the US$6.1 million PGA and Asian Tours co-sanctioned event.

The 40-year-old Chia bounced back after an opening bogey with birdies on the second and eighth but failed to make the turn in the red after dropping a double bogey on the ninth. He traded a birdie and bogey apiece on the inward nine to come home with a one-over 214 overall.

“I hit a lot of good drives but misjudged my second shots which cost me a lot of strokes. Obviously, I’m still trying to push myself to hole my putts but didn’t get any luck on the greens, where I had lipped a fair share of putts,”  he said.

“I didn’t change my game plan at all [on the back nine]. Sometimes, I was probably getting too tense when I’m trying to hole my putts. I didn’t feel I had much luck,” he added.

With nothing to lose in the final round tomorrow, the national number one hopes to recover with a decent closing round.  “Right now, it isn’t very pretty to be at the bottom of the leaderboard. Hopefully, I can make a little bit of a comeback and finish under-par.”

On the other hand, Shaaban continued to tweak his game as he tries to compete through the pain barrier. “My game was good. I didn’t do much mistakes but I didn’t get much distance on my ball either. Whenever I try to play aggressively, I can feel the pain in my shoulders.

“My short game really kept me in the tournament. I am trying to keep the ball before the green and do my best for an up-and-down. It worked for me and I’ll try to do the same tomorrow,” said the slender 32-year-old.