Sports
Thapa opens up three-stroke lead
Ram Thapa opened up a three-stroke lead over Rabi Khadka after the second round of the CMS Open golf tournament here at the Gokarna Golf Club on Tuesday.Thapa carded second round two-under 70 for a total of five-under 139. Fellow Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) pro and Nepal No 2 Khadka returned with three-under 69 for a total two-under 142. Tribhuvan Army Officers Golf Club (TAOGC) pro Sanjay Lama was third at even-par 144 a second round card of one-over 73. Another RNGC pro Ramesh Adhikari shot a disappointing four-over 76 to drop to fourth at one-over 145. Thapa and Adhikari had shared the first day lead in the eighth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2013-14.
Thapa shot two-under 34 on the front nine and an even-par 36 on the back nine. He sank three birdies on the sixth, seventh and ninth holes against a bogey on the second. On his way back, the RNGC pro had a bogey on the 16th but recovered to earn a shot on the 18th.
Khadka, meanwhile, took the turn at even-par 36 but improved on his back nine with three-under 33. His front nine card included birdies on the first, seventh and ninth holes against a double bogey on the fifth and another bogey on the eighth.
Surya Prasad Sharma shot two-over 74 and remained fifth at 146, while Ram Krishna Shrestha (74) and Nepal No 1 pro Shiva Ram Shrestha (75) shared the sixth spot at three-over 147. Holder Deepak Thapa Magar and Rajendra Phuyal were tied for eighth at 149 after carding identical 74s. Ramesh Nagarkoti (76) and Sunil Mizar (74) shared the 10th place at six-over 150.