The tournament boasts the richest prize money ever seen in the history of golf in Nepal with a total prize fund of 2.5 million rupees.
A sentimental favorite this year would be Shiv Ram Shrestha, who has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years and now promises to carry forward the baton of Nepali golf.
He has shown enough potential to suggest that he can go on the footsteps of Deepak Thapa Magar, who himself would be hoping to do an encore of his 2007 act, when he became the first home-grown player to clinch this prestigious title.
The field boosts top professionals from South Asia along with a great number of local professionals. Top Indian players in the likes of Ashok Kumar, who is fresh from his win at the only matchplay event on the Indian professional circuit, former winners of the Indian Open, Vijay Kumar and Feroze Ali, Arjun Singh, Asian Games silver medalists Chirag Kumar, Joseph Chakola and the defending champion Shamim Khan will compete in the event.,
Asian Tour card holders Md Siddukur Rahman from Bangladesh and Sasidaran from Malaysia will be leading the contingent of players along with Sri Lankan Anura Rohana while there is also an Australian in the fray in the form of Anthony Paul Choat, who plies his trades on the Indian professional circuit.
Apart from the professional competition, an international amateur event will also be held with a top ranked player each from five countries – India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and hosts Nepal vying for honors.
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Surya Nepal Central Open begins Monday
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