Sukra carded two-over 74 to open one-stroke lead over four players -- Tshendra Dorji of Bhutan, Shiva Kumar Majhi, Tenzing Tshiring, and Arun Tamang who all carded three-over 75.Sukra started the day with a bogey on the first hole then made birdies on second and third and played even par from fourth to seventh. He further dropped shot on par-3 eighth hole and sank a birdie on the ninth hole for one-under 35 on the front nine. On the second half he made bogey on the 14th hole and dropped two-shots on par-3 16th for three-over 39.
Tshendra of Bhutan scored one-over 37 on front nine and two-over 38 on back nine. He earned birdies on third and sixth holes against bogeys on second, seventh and eighth holes before taking the turn. On the back nine, he made bogeys on 13th, 14th and 15 holes against a birdie on 17th hole.
Shiva Kumar started with double-bogey on the first hole then made two birdies in a row before making a bogey on seventh and double-bogey on eighth for three-over 39. In the other half, he made a double-bogey on the 11th hole and bogey on the 16th hole against birdies on 12th, 17th and 18th holes for even-par 36.
Tenzing played one-over 37 on the front nine and two-over 38 on the back nine. He earned birdies on third, fifth and seventh holes against bogeys on first, fourth, sixth and eighth holes before taking the turn. On the back nine he made double-bogey on the par-5 12th hole for two-over 38.
Arun carded even-par 36 on the front nine with birdie on the third against bogey on the seventh. On the back nine he made double-bogey on 14th hole and bogeys on 16th and 17th holes against single birdie on 15th hole for three-over 39.
Mohammad Ripon carded four-over 76 for sixth place. Tashi Dong is seventh with five-over 77. Akbar Hossain and Vijay Shrestha Einhaus are tied ninth with six-over 78.
Altogether 59 players are taking part in the 54-hole tournament. Cut will be applied after the second round with 30 players making it to the final round.
In team event, Team Bangladesh consisting of Mohammad Ripon and Akbar Hossian lead the standings with 154. Team Bhutan comprising of Tshendra Dorji and Dechan Ugyan is at 156. Nepal A represented by Tanka Bahadur Karki and Tashi Tshiring is 158 and Nepal B team represented by Shiva Kumar Majhi and Prithivi Malla is at 160.
Altogether four teams -- two from host Nepal and one each from Bangladesh and Bhutan are taking part in the team event being played over 36 holes.
The tournament is being organized by Nepal Golf Association under the aegis of Mountain Sports Federation of National sports council.
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