The golf tournament, which has highest prize money in Nepali golf with Rs 4 million, will shine with the participation of some of the big names of Indian golf.[break]
Mandeo Pathania who won the “Longest Drive” competition in an Asian Tour event, Gurbaaz Mann, who had driven the first green of the Gokarna Golf Club three out of four times during his last visit to Nepal and of course Nepal´s leading pro Shiv Ram Shrestha who is known to drive to prodigious distances, all promise to make things exciting not only for themselves but for the spectators as well.
The Indian charge is led by young Rashid Khan who is currently fifth on the current Order of Merit of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and playing his debut season as a professional. Among other players, former winners of the Indian Open, Vijay Kumar and Feroz Ali would be strong contenders along with former winner of Surya Nepal Masters Shamim Khan, who is currently ranked 10th on the PGTI Order of Merit, young professional Ajeetesh Sandhu, Manav Jaini, Arjun Singh, Asian Games silver medalists Chirag Kumar and Joseph Chakola.
The field this year also boasts of a distinctly international touch. Sri Lankan Mithun Perera who had won the International Amateur title at the Surya Nepal Masters previously will be playing as a professional. He will be joined by his compatriot K Prabhagaran, a former winner of the All India Amateur. The field also boasts of three Bangladeshis who are capable of upsetting the field on their given day.
The local challenge will come from the in-form Shiv Ram Shrestha who won his record 10th career title when he conquered the Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship recently, Rupak Acharya, Rabi Khadka and old stalwarts such as former Surya Nepal Masters champion Deepak Thapa Magar, Purna Sharma and Ramesh Nagarkoti among others.
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