KATHMANDU: Nepali golfers Rupak Acharya and Wangchen Dhondup started the opening round of the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship with over-par rounds at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzen, China today.

Rupak was the best among the two Nepali golfers after the No 1 golfer of the country finished the opening round at five-over 77 for the tied-75th position along with other 10 golfers. Wangchen completed the round at 10-over 82 and was tied for the 104th position in the 116-player field.

Ren Han of China carded seven-under 65 for a one-stroke lead over Chang-Won Han of South Korea. Mhark Fernando of Philippines was at third position with five-under 67.

Rupak started well and was heading towards a good score before taking a turn but faltered on the back nine and was forced to lie at the bottom half of the leaderboard. Rupak had eight par putts and a bogey on the seventh hole to finish the front nine at one-over 37.

Rupak started the back nine with a bogey but saved a shot on the next hole with the lone birdie of the round on the par-5 11th hole.

After saving a par on the next hole, Rupak had back-to-back bogeys on the 13th and 14th before he saved a par on the next hole. He dropped shots on the 16th and 17th before finishing the round with a par-putt.

Another Nepali player Wangchen, who has been living in China and joined Rupak from there, started the round with four consecutive par-putts.

He dropped a shot on the fifth hole and had a double bogey on the ninth before taking a turn at three-over 39. On the back nine, Wangchen had two double bogeys on the 10th and 12th and bogeys on the 15th, 17th and 18th for a total of 10-under 82.