Nepal No 1 pro Shiva Ram Shrestha extended his lead to seven strokes after the completion of second round in the Surya Nepal Central Open, the second event of Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2018-19, at the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort here on Tuesday.

Shrestha carded five-under 67 on the second day for a total of nine-under 135 at the par-72 course. Bhuwan Nagarkoti, who played four-under 68, and amateur Tashi Tsering — five-under 67 — are behind leader Shrestha at total of two-under 142. Dhana Thapa, who was trailing Shrestha after the completion of first round, slipped to third after he returned a card of one-over 73 for a total of one-under 143.

Wangchen Dhondup is in the second spot in the amateur and fifth overall with one-over 145 after carding one-under 71. Surya Prasad Sharma played one-under 71 for a total of two-over 146 and stands fourth in pro category. Bikash Adhikari (75), Jayaram Shrestha (68), Deepak Magar (76), Deepak Acharya (75), Deepak Magar (76) along with amateurs Sunil KC (76) and Sandip Tamang (76) are tied for a total of five-over 149.

Rabi Khadka, Rame Magar, Krishna Man Rajbahak, Dipendra Rayamajhi, Pradeep Kumar Lama, Pashupati Sharma, Prasanna Upreti, Ram Krishna Shrestha, Shiva Kumar Majhi, Chuda Bahadur Bhandari, Bhuwan Kumar Rokka, Rajendra Shrestha Pradhan, Ramesh Nagarkoti and Asish Pariyar survived the cut. Among the amateurs Prithvi Malla, Subash Tamang, Bipin Tamang, Prabendra Singh, Binod Tamang, and Surendra Phuyal made the cut.

Leader Shrestha began the day by saving a shot in the first hole and added birdies on the third, fifth, seventh and eighth holes against a bogey on the sixth for four-under 32 on the front nine. On the back nine, he made birdies on 11th, 12th and 14th holes before dropping shots on 15th and 16th for one-under 35.

Nagarkoti scored five-under 31 on the front nine and one-over 37 on the back nine. He sank an eagle on the par-five seventh hole before making birdies on the third, fourth and fifth holes. After taking the turn, he squandered two shots on par-five 11th before sinking birdies on 13th and 18th holes against bogey on the 17th.

Amateur Tsering started the day with bogey on the first hole but made amends with birdies on second, third, fourth, sixth and ninth holes for front nine score of four-under 32. On the back nine, he birdied on the 10th, 12th, 15th , 16th but double-bogey on 14th and bogey on 18th gave him one-under 35.

Third placed pro and fourth in overall Thapa carded four-under 32 on the front nine with bogey on the second hole and birdies on the third and sixth holes. After taking turn, he birdied on the 11th hole and dropped a shot each on 10th, 16th and 17th hole for two-over 38. Altogether 22 professionals and 10 amateurs made the cut for the next 36 holes. A total of 31 professional and 11 amateurs competed in the tournament. The event carries total cash purse of Rs 661,500.