KUALA LUMPUR: Lady professional Ainil Johani Abu Bakar stayed in contention for a potentially season-changing victory at the Ladies European Tour’s Sanya Ladies Open.

The 26-year-old Malaysian fired her second consecutive four-under 68 at Yalong Bay Golf Club in Hainan, China on Saturday to remain two shots behind leader Meechai Kusuma of Thailand.

Twenty-year-old Meechai bounced back from an opening bogey with seven birdies to return with a six-under 66 to surge clear at the €300,000 tournament.

‎Amelia Lewis of the United States and China’s rising star Jing Yan are three strokes off the pace in tied fourth.

Ainil goes into the final round of the 54-hole contest tied for second alongside LPGA regular and current LET Order of Merit leader Shanshan Feng (66) on eight-under 136.

“I saved a lot of putts today and made a lot of five footers to save par. I hit 12 greens and got up and down. My putting has been the key for today and yesterday. I hit 14 fairways yesterday and 12 today,” said Ainil, who registered a flawless four-birdie display.

Plying her trade on the LET’s Access Series, Ainil has struggled for form and confidence this year, including a disappointing outing at last month’s Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia where she finished at the bottom of the leaderboard.

A win in the holiday isle with see her avoid the long trip to next month’s Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifying School in Morocco.

“Putting has been my weakness so far this year and I worked a lot on it last week and it turned out well so far. I’m just happy to be in contention and if I can go low tomorrow, anything is possible,” added the one-time Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) winner.

Ainil, who turned professional in 2010 on the back of a promising amateur career, triumphed at the KENDA Tire TLPGA Open in 2013.