Nepal No 1 Shivaram Shrestha extended the to four strokes at halfway stage of the Surya Nepal Kathmandu Open golf tournament on Wednesday.

Shrestha shot four-under 64 in the second round for a total card of 10-under 126 at the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC). Bikash Adhikari also carded four-under 64 to pull within four strokes of the RNGC pro at the second event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2018-19. Amateur Sukra Rai rose to third overall at five-under 131 after carding the day’s best five-under 63. Rame Magar was one shot adrift of Rai at 132 after shooting one-under 67 but third among the pros.

Top-ranked Shrestha shot three-under 31 on the front nine and one-under 33 on the back nine. He sank birdies on the first, fourth, seventh and ninth holes against a bogey on the sixth. On his way back, Shrestha added more shots on the 13th and 16th but dropped a shot on the 17th hole.

Adhikari carded two-under 32 on either halves. Adhikari sank birdies on the first, third, fourth and eighth holes against bogeys on the second and seventh. In the back nine, he sank birdies on the 12th, 13th and 14th against a bogey on the 16th hole. Magar carded even-par 34 on the front nine and one-under 33 on the back nine. Magar sank a birdie on the second and a bogey on the fifth hole. In the back nine, he sank further birdies on the 11th and 17th holes against a bogey on the 18th.

Dhana Bahadur Thapa, who shot 69, is fourth at two-under 134, while Surya Prasad Sharma, who carded a 67, is next at even-par 136. Rajendra Thapa Magar shot a 69 and stay in sixth at one-over 137 while Deepak Magar carded a 71 and hold the seventh place at 138. Dhruba KC, Bhuwan Nagarkoti and Jayaram Shrestha were tied for eighth at 139.

Cut was applied at 12-over 148 and 23 pros made it to the final two rounds. Bhuwan Kumar Rokka, Dinesh  Prajapati, Rajendra Shrestha Pradhan, Prabhat Kumar Rajbahak, Basanta Raj Gurung, Dinesh Nagarkoti, Krishna Man Rajbahak, Sanjay Lama, Pradeep Kumar Lama, Gopal Nagarkoti, Sachin Bhattarai and Bal Bhadra Rai made the cut.

Sukra Bahadur Rai is a top the amateur category following his scintillating five-under 131 on Wednesday. An eventful second round, Rai Sukra produced six birdies and two eagles to climb up the leaderboard but his card was upset by five bogeys. Rai is two strokes ahead of Tanka Bahadur Karki, who shot one-over 69 for the total score of three-under 133. Subash Tamang was in third at one-under 135 after shooting even-par 68. Binod Tamang, Sandip Tamang and Bipin Tamang also survived the cut.

In all 41 golfers—33 pros and eight amateurs—took part in the first two rounds of the tournament organised by Nepal Professional Golfers Association. The tournament offers Rs 551,250 in total prize money. The champion will receive Rs 95,000 while the first and second runner-up will earn Rs 65,000 and Rs 55,000 respectively. Other pros to make the cut will also earn their share of cash prizes.