Playing the white side of Sicilian Defence, Gillani overcame his fancied Indian rival in 57 moves at Airport Authority of India Club.
On another table, International Master K Rathnakaran escaped from the claws of defeat against lower-rated Surbir Lama of Nepal as they split the points after a marathon encounter that lasted 108 moves while local hope Sriram Jha defeated overnight sole leader veteran GM Praveen Thipsay in 65 moves.
IM Tania Sachdev secured sole lead in the women’s section with three points from as many rounds as she beat national champion Kruttika Nadig in 47 moves.
Results (Indians otherwise stated): Men, fourth round: Reefat Bin-Sattar (Ban, 0) lt to Ziaur Rahman (Ban, 2.5); Gillani Tunveer (Pak, 2.5) bt Deepan Chakkravarthy (2.5); Amir Karim (Pak, 1) lt to Neelotpal Das (3.5); Sriram Jha (3.5) bt Praveen Thipsay (3); Ahmed Ashraf (Mal, 1) bt Kesav Malla (Bhu, 0); Surbir Lama (Nep, 1.5) drew Rathnakaran (3); Hapuarachchi (SL, 0) bye.
Women, third round: Sultana Sharmin Shirin (Ban, 1.5) lt to Nisha Mohota (1.5); Tania Sachdev (3) bt Kruttika Nadig (1.5); Sachini Ranasinghe (SL, 1) bt Monalisa Khumboo (Nep, 0); Swathi Ghate (0.5) bye.
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