Kathmandu, October 2:

Rupak Acharya carded 5-over 77 for the second straight day for a total of 10-over 154 and extended his lead to two strokes after the second round of the ninth SAARC Golf Championship qualifying tournament here today.

Rabi Khadka also matched his first round scores of six-over 78 and stayed in contention to qualify for the championship to be held at the Le Meridien Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and Spa from November 1-3. Raj Pradhan, who was joint second with Khadka after the first round, finished the day at 11-over 83 and was joint third with Tashi Ghale, who carded nine-over 81 for a total of 161.

Others in the 54-hole tournament are Hridesh Singh (163), Tashi Tsering (165), Gopal Chitrakar (172), Surya Sharma (173), Maj MB Limbu (179), RM Shrestha (179), Indra Lamichane (180), Bhuwan Gurung (181), Maj LP Gurung (182), HB Rai (182), GB Limbu (184), Jaya Ram Rai (188) and Suman Rai (197).

In Ladies section, Kesang Lama played a round of 27-over 99 and still took lead after the fist round. Swastika Shrestha was second with 111, while Sandhya Rai came third with 123. Kalpana Limbu (129). Uma Tiwari (134) and Ritu Thakuri (147) are the other three women golfers in the 36-hole qualifying event.

In all, 18 men and six women golfers are taking part in the qualifying tournament organised by Nepal Golf Association. The top three men and two women will qualify for the SAARC Championship.