In the ninth round match on Saturday, Rajendra defeated 1707-rated Pradeep Kumar Bisoi of India to add five points to his tally.
The other Nepali players put up mixed performances on Saturday. Nepal champion Badrilal Nepali and FIDE Master Manish Hamal were held to draws, while Wilam Lal Shrestha and Gyanendra Prasad Shrestha won their matches.
FM Hamal was held by 1758-rated Saumi Mukherjee of India and Nepali played to a draw with 2292-rated FM Ramkrishna J of the host nation.
Wilam, rated 2104, downed Gobhardan, Bahera, rated 1903, of India, and unrated Gyanendra Prasad Shrestha beat DK Chopra, rated 1923, of India.
Similarly, Bikram Priya and Rajendra Rai won their respective matches.
But the other Nepalis did not fare so well. Sujendra Prasad Shrestha, rated 2064, Prakash Nepal, Suman Suwal, Umesh KC and Indra Kumar Basnet were all defeated.
Bhagwati Prasad Sharma and Balaram Napit played to a draw with their Nepali teammates Prajwalraj Rajpodhya and Mani Raj Dangi, respectively.
The last round matches will be held on Sunday. The tournament is held under the Swill League System.
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