Bhuwan Nagarkoti retained a one-stroke lead after carding an even-par 68 in the second round of the Surya Nepal Kathmandu Open at the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) on Wednesday.

The Gokarna Golf Club pro Nagarkoti shot two-round total of three-under 133 and was one stroke clear of Bikash Adhikari, who shot two-under 66 for a total of 134. Jayaram Shrestha was in third place at even-par 136 after carding one-under 67 on Wednesday. Rabi Khadka and Shivaram Shrestha shared the fourth position at one-over 137. Khadka shot one-under 67 and Nepal No 1 Shivaram carded one-over 69. The second day’s play was put on hold for about an hour due to heavy rain midway through the match.

Defending champion Rame Magar was in a tie for sixth at six-over 142 with Surya Prasad Sharma and Dhana Bahadur Thapa. Rame shot eight-over 76, while Dhana played four-over 72 and Surya shot a 71. Bhuwan Kumar Rokka was 10th at 143 after shooting a 76.

In all, 21 pros made the cut which fell at 15-over 151. Ramesh Nagarkoti, Pradeep Kumar Lama, Yelamber Singh Adhikari, Basanta Raj Gurung, Pashupati Sharma, Dhruba KC, Bishnu KC, Gopal Nagarkoti, Rajendra Shrestha Pradhan, Ram Krishna Shrestha and CB Bhandari made it to the final two rounds.

In amateur section, Tanka Bahadur Karki maintained his lead despite faltering to seven-over 75 on Wednesday. Karki carded a total of eight-over 144 which puts him three strokes ahead of Subash Ghising, who shot five-over 73. Sunil KC (75) was third at 148. Amateurs Surendra Phuyal, Binod Tamang and Sandeep Tamang also made the cut.

Nagarkoti shot even-par 34 on both the halves. In the front nine, he dropped a shot on the second but earned a shot on the fifth hole. On the back nine, Nagarkoti sank a birdie on the 15th but had a bogey on the 17th. Adhikari carded two-under 32 on the front nine and even-par 34 on the back nine. He sank birdies on the sixth and seventh holes in the bogey-free front nine. On his way back, Adhikari had bogeys on the 10th and 17th against birdies on the 14th and 15th holes.

Jayaram carded three-under 31 on the front nine with birdies on the second, sixth and eighth holes. On the back nine, he shot two-over 36 with a birdie on the 10th against bogeys on the 12th, 15th and 16th holes. A total of 33 pros and 13 amateurs are taking part in the event organised by Nepal Professional Golfers Association. The eighth event under Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2017-18 offers Rs 525,000 in prize money. The champions will earn Rs 90,000, runners-up will receive Rs 61,000 and third-placed pro will get Rs 47,000. Other pros to make the cut are also assured of their share of cash rewards.