BEST friends Azuma Yano and Hideto Tanihara of Japan were tied atop the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open leaderboard after the third round yesterday.

 Yano (left), chasing a second successive victory, posted a flawless five-under-par 65 at Ibaraki Country Club's West Course for a three-day total of 12-under-par 198.

Tanihara fired an equally superb 64 to give himself a chance of a career eighth title in the US$1.85 million ($2.6m) event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour, reported asiantour.com.

Halfway leader Kaname Yokoo slipped to third place, one shot back, after a 68 while Chinese star Liang Wenchong, New Zealand's Mark Brown and South Korea's Bae Sang Moon stayed in contention on 201 after carding identical 67s.

Rich vein of form

Yano, 31, enjoyed a bogey-free round as he extended his rich vein of form after winning the ANA Open last week, and was confident of another good result.

'I hit a lot of good shots and I hope to win again tomorrow,' said Yano.

'I'm feeling good, but there are a lot of guys who can make a charge up the leaderboard. However, I do believe that it will be me again.'

Tanihara's eight birdies pushed him up the leaderboard and set up a tantalising showdown today with Yano, who is one of his best friends on Tour.

'I need to keep playing like I did today to come out on top,' said Tanihara.

'I was on top of my game and managed to hit a lot of birdies. I feel confident, but like Yano says, there are a few others who can make a charge.

'Yano won last week and I want to stop him from winning again.'