Kathmandu, February 1
Top Nepali pro Sukra Bahadur Rai climbed up to second position after the second round of the PGTI Qualifying School at the par-70 Tollygunge Golf Club in Kolkata today. Rai carded four-under 66 on the second day to post the 36-hole total of seven-under 133 and earned a share of second position with three Indian golfers, Karan Pratan Singh (65), Pranav Mardikar (64) and C Muniyappa (65). They are six strokes behind leader, Indian amateur golfer Aryan Roopa Anand, who carded seven-under 63 to add to his overnight score of 64 for a total of 13-under 127.
Rai - who played a bogey-free three-under 67 in the first round - was at the top of the leaderboard at one stage after he carded four-under 32 on the front nine. Starting the day from the 10th tee, the Dharan-based golfer carded birdies on the 10th, 12th, 14th and 17th holes before taking the turn. He then carded the fifth birdie of the day on the seventh before dropping a shot on the next hole to finish the back nine at even-par 34.
Another Nepali player in the Q-School, Niraj Tamang failed to make the cut, which was applied at five-over 145.
Tamang, also from Dharan and member of the 13th South Asian Games gold medal winning team, played three-over 73 on the second day for the 36-hole total of nine-over 149. A total of 81 players survived the cut for the final two rounds.
Tamang made a disastrous start dropping three shots on the first two holes after he faced a double bogey five on the par-3 second hole. He carded a birdie on the fourth but dropped a shot on the next. He bounced back with an eagle on the seventh to take the turn at one-over 35. But he faced three bogeys on the 11th, 13th and 18th holes against a lone birdie on the 15th to finish the back nine at two-over 38. Out of the 127 players who took part in the 72-hole tournament, Tamang earned a share of 101st position.
Top 34 players after the completion of 72 holes will earn full cards for the 2023 season of the Indian Tour. Rai won full cards for the previous season of the Indian Tour but failed to protect the card after he fell out of top 60 in the Order of Merit. Rai, who played 18 tournaments in the previous season, finished at 67th position last year.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 2, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
