Kathmandu, September 22

Shiva Raj Majhi moved at the top of the Faldo Series Nepal Championship after the second round here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

In the boys’ 17-21yrs category, Majhi carded even-par 72 today for a total of three-over 147, three strokes ahead of overnight leader Arun Tamang who faltered to eight-over 80. Sukra Bahadur Rai was third at 153 after he carded one-over 73, one stroke ahead of Prithivi Malla (78). Sandesh Khanal and Yabraj Bhujel shared the fifth position at 12-over 156.

Majhi, who was five strokes behind Tamang on the first day, carded one-under 35 before taking the turn and played one-over 37 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the fifth and seventh holes and in between faced a bogey on the front nine. On the back nine, Majhi carded birdies on the 11th and 15th holes against bogeys on the 14th, 16th and 17th holes.

Tamang faltered to five-over 41 on the front nine before shooting three-over 39 on the latter half. Tamang faced bogeys on the second and third holes before carding a birdie on the next. He then suffered a triple bogey seven on the sixth hole and dropped a shot on the eighth to finish the first half. On the back nine, Tamang carded a birdie on the 12th hole and faced a bogey in the 16th and 18the apart from a double bogey on the 17th hole.

Third-placed Rai shot two-over 38 on the front nine before carding one-under 35 on the latter half, while Malla played two-over 38 before taking the turn and added four-over 40 on the back nine. Likewise, Khanal played two-over 38 and one-over 37 on the two halves respectively. After the 36-holes, 12 out of 15 players made the cut. Subham Agrawal and Bijay Gurung were out of the race, while Ashok Lama pulled out because of illness.

In the boys’ 12-16yrs age category, Tenzing Tsering jumped two spots up and opened up seven-strokes lead with the total score of 10-over 154 after he played a round of four-over 76 today. Defending champion Aryaan Kumar played a horrible round of 11-over 83 to stay at second position with the total score of 17-over 161.

Overnight leader Akash Rai — who produced the card of eight-over 80 and was at the second position at 157 — was disqualified for filling in wrong scores. Suman Pariyar and Sam Doublard shared the third position at 167. Only Arvan Shah missed the cut as seven players made it to the final round.

In girls’ section, Pratima Sherpa extended her lead to 25 strokes despite shooting 14-over 86 for a total score of 35-over 179, while Kashmira Shah (93) was second at 204 and Smita Shrestha (115) third at 235. Winners of all three categories will qualify for the Faldo Series Asia Final to be held at the Mission Hills Golf Club in China next year.