Shrestha of Royal Nepal Golf Club made a superb comeback with two consecutive birdies on 12th and 13th holes after Sapkota had three bogeys from 8-10 holes. [break]
Shreshta carded one-over 71 on the final round for a total of 6-over 216, while local pro Sapkota shot six-over 76 for a total of 8-over 218. Another local pro Tham Bahadur Rai came third with the total score of 10-over 220 after a round of one-over 71.
Three players -- Nepal No 1 Rabi Khadka, Surya Sharma and Suman Rai -- finished tied fourth at 13-over 223. Deepak Neupane, Umesh Nagarkoti and Sanjay Lama were joint seventh at 224. Ramesh Nagarkoti was 10th at 15-over 225. Current season´s money leader Rupak Acharya was tied for 11th spot with Deepak Thapa Magar and Ram Thapa with the score of 226.
Samundra Giri of Gokarna Golf Club finished first with the total score of 232 after the final day score of 12-over 82 in the amateur category. Local amateur Harka Rai was second at 235 while Jiwan Rai finished third with the total score of 236.
In the main event, Sapkota was three strokes ahead of Shrestha at the beginning of the day but he had a bad start as he suffered a double bogey on the first hole and saw his lead cut down to two strokes after Shrestha hit a bogey.
Sapkota opened up a six-stroke lead after the first six holes. Nevertheless, he faltered from there on and saw Shrestha leading by one stroke going into the final hole, where he had a double bogey to Shrestha´s par.
The title is Shiva Ram´s eighth overall and first in Dharan.
In all, Shrestha carded four birdies against five bogeys, while Sapkota had three birdies against five bogeys and a double bogey. The turning point came at the 17th when Sapkota suffered a bogey and Shrestha sank a 15-foot chip for a birdie that put the former No 1 player one stroke ahead.
With the trophy, Shrestha earned Rs 80,000 while Sapkota received Rs 51,000 and third-placed Tham Bahadur Rai pocketed Rs 40,000. Others in the top 20 also got their share of cash prizes.
A total of 20 professionals and 5 amateurs had made the cut after the second round. Vice-president of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd Buddha Singh and the chairman of Nirvana Country Club gave away prizes to the winners of the tournament.
The tournament concludes Saturday with the Pro-Am event.
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