Deepak Thapa Magar and Ramesh Adhikari climbed up the leaderboard after the second round of the Surya Nepal Challenge, the second event held under Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2015-16, here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) on Wednesday.

Thapa Magar carded two-under 65, matching the day’s best score with Bhuwan Nagarkoti, to share the lead with Ramesh, who shot second straight one-under 66 for a total of two-under 132. Thapa Magar made a poor start to his round as he dropped a shot in the very first hole. But he made up for the lost shot with an eagle on the fourth hole. He closed out his first nine holes with three-under 30 after sinking birdies on the fifth and seventh holes. He missed out on taking a sole possession of the lead after dropping three shots in the back nine against two birdies on the 14th, 17th and 18th holes.

Ramesh shot one-under 32 in the front nine and even-par 34 in the back nine to join Thapa Magar on top of the leaderboard.  His card included five birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey. Bhuwan carded two-under 65 for a total of one-under 133 and shared the third place with overnight joint-leader Ramesh Nagarkoti, who shot a 68.

Yelamber Singh Adhikari remarkably eagled all three par-5 holes but still finished the day at one-over 68 for a total score of even-par 134. Apart from the eagles, his inconsistent round included six bogeys, one double bogey and a birdie. Overnight joint-leader Sabin Sapkota, who shot 70 today, and Rabi Khadka (66) shared the sixth place at 135.

Top ranked Shivaram Shrestha stood at eighth after shooting three-over 70, while one shot adrift was Jayaram Shrestha (71) at 137. Ram Krishna Shrestha was alone at 10th place at 138.