Sukra Bahadur Rai and Pratima Sherpa retained their lead in the second round of the Faldo Series Nepal Championship at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Tuesday.

Defending champion Rai leads the boys’ U-21 category after carding three-over 75 on Tuesday for a total of seven-over 151. Bipin Tamang was in second seven strokes behind the leader at 14-over 158 after a second round card of seven-over 79. Suresh Tamang was in a distant third at 168.

Rai started the second round with back-to-back bogeys but sank birdies on the next two holes. He then had a triple-bogey on the seventh for a three-over 39 front nine card. On the back nine, Rai had bogeys on 11th and 15th against birdies on last two holes for an even-par 36.

Sherpa shot one-over 73 on Tuesday for a total of 10-over 154. Sherpa appears a runaway leader as her nearest challenger Kashmira Shah was 22 strokes behind after shooting 14-over 86 in the second round. Junu Gurung was in third at 193.

Sherpa carded three-over 39 on the front nine with bogeys on second, fourth, eighth and ninth against a lone birdie on the seventh hole. On the back nine, Sherpa sank birdies on 12th, 15th and 16th holes against a lone bogey on the 14th.

Subash Ghising climbed up the leader-board in the boys’ U-16 category with a total score of 12-over 156 after the second round card of five-over 77. The first round leader Monish Y Shah dropped to second after carding 11-over 83 for a total of 16-over 160.

In all, 24 junior golfers aged between 12 to 21-year-old are taking part in the tournament organized by Nepal Golf Association and Gokarna Forest Resort. Winners of each of the three categories in the 54-hole event will earn themselves places in the 12th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final to be held in Danang, Vietnam, in March next year.