KATHMANDU, July 6: Rabi Khadka moved on top of the leaderboard at the end of the second round after he carded three-under 69 on Tuesday in the Surya Nepal NPGA Tour Championship at the par-72 Gokarna Gold Club.
Rabi, who carded two-under 70 on the first day, opened three-stroke lead over second placed Ramesh Adhikari with a total of five-under 139. Second placed Ramesh and third placed Bhuwan Nagarkoti are two-under and one-under 144.
Tashi Tshering is on top of amateur section and is tied with Nepal number one Shiva Ram Shrestha for a total of even par 144. Tashi scored two-over 74 and Shiva Ram three-under 69 on Tuesday.
Sanjay Lama stands sixth with a total of one-over 145 after he carded even-par 72. Overnight leader Jayaram Shrestha dropped to joint seventh with Ramesh Nagarkoti for a total of two-over 146. Jayram, who played four-under 68 in the opening day, carded six-over 78 and Ramesh played two-under 70.
Tanka Bahadur Karki and Prithvi Malla are second and third among amateurs with total of six-over and seven-over. Both of them carded five-over 77.
Rabi carded three-under 69 with three-under 33 in the front nine and even par 36 on the back nine. He birdied on the first, third and fifth holes and played even par in the remaining holes of the front nine. After taking the turn, he made birdie on the 12th hole and bogied on the 18th hole.
Ramesh Adhikari made birdies on the first and third holes and dropped a shot on the second hole for one-under 35 on the front nine and in the back nine, he birdied on the 11th, 12th and 18th holes before dropping a shot on the par-four 14th hole for two-under 34.
Bhuwan scored two-under 34 on the front nine with birdies on the second, third and seventh holes after dropping a shot on the first hole. On the back nine, he carded even par 36 with birdies on 10th and 11th holes but double bogeyed on par-four 14th hole.
Shiva Ram shot two-under 34 on the first half and one-under 35 on the second half.
Among 46 players, 21 pros made the cut for final two rounds including Rabi, Ramesh Adhikari, Bhuwan Nagarkoti, Shiva Ram, Sanjay, Jayaram, Ramesh Nagarkoti, Deepak Magar, Dhana Bahadur Thapa, Yelamber Singh Adhikari, Bhu Bahadur Gurung, Rame Magar, Ram Kirishna Shrestha, Deepak Acharya, Pashupati Sharma, Krishna Man Rajbhak, Dinesh Prajapati, Pradeep Kuma Lama, Bal Bhadra Rai, Surya Prasad Sharma and Chuda Bahadur Bhandari. Similarly, six amateurs - Tashi, Tanka, Prithvi, Gajendra Gurung, Sukra Bahadur Rai and Kamal Tamang also made the cut.
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