The top pro rallies to beat Lama 3&2 in Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play final
KATHMANDU, MARCH 10
Reigning Nepal No 1 pro Bhuwan Nagarkoti defeated fourth-ranked Sanjay Lama 3&2 in the final of the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club today.
In the 36-hole contest, Lama opened up 2-up lead after first nine holes before Nagarkoti cut the deficit to half after the completion of 18 holes. Nagarkoti made it all square on the 26th hole and took the lead after he won the next going into the final nine holes.
Nagarkoti won the third straight hole to extend the lead to two holes when he won the 28th and he was 3-up on the 30th hole. Both pros shared next four holes and Nagarkoti registered the victory with two holes to spare to win the title of the fourth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2021-22.
With the first win of the season, Nagarkoti took his tally to eight titles and the trophy came exactly one year after he won the last tournament.
He had bagged the seventh title - Surya Nepal Central Open - in March last year at the Gokarna Golf Club ending three-year drought. Along with the trophy, Nagarkoti received Rs 50,000, while runner-up Lama earned Rs 30,000.
Nagarkoti was happy to win the tournament. "I am happy that I could win the trophy after a year," said Nagarkoti.
"But it was a tough contest. I was lucky to come from behind and edge past Sanjay as he was 2-up and going strong. He missed a couple of short putts and that allowed me to take the lead. It was largely because of his mistakes I was able to lift the trophy," said Nagarkoti, who beat Sachin Bhattarai in the first round on Tuesday and defeated Dinesh Prajapati and Dhana Bahadur Thapa in quarter-final and semi-final matches respectively yesterday.
Lama said he lacked practice.
"I came to golf course for the first time after playing in Dharan," said Lama. "I am happy to reach the final and play such a competitive game against top pro," he added. Lama defeated Ram Krishna Shrestha in first round before edging past Jayaram Shrestha and Bikash Adhikari in the next two matches.
Fifth-ranked Dhana Bahadur Thapa beat third-ranked Bikash Adhikari 2-up to finish third. Thapa received Rs 22,000 and Bikash got Rs 18,000. Four losing quarter-finalists - Dinesh Prajapati, Rame Magar, Jayaram Shrestha and Deepak Magar - got Rs 10,000 each, while eight pros who lost in the first round - Sachin Prasad Bhattarai, Surya Prasad Sharma, Bal Bhadra Rai, Bhuwan Kumar Rokka, Krishna Man Rajbahak, Rabi Khadka and Shiva Kumar Majhi - received Rs 5,000 apiece.
Only top 16 pros from Order of Merit 2018-19 - the last completed season of Surya Nepal Golf Tour before the coronavirus pandemic - were eligible to take part in the Match Play. Second-ranked Shivaram Shrestha and 14th-ranked Deepak Acharya are not participating in the event and the NPGA allowed No 17 Shiva Kumar Majhi and No 18 Sachin Bhattarai in the draw.
Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd Vice-president (Marketing) Dipra Lahiri and RNGC President Prachanda Bahadur Shrestha handed over the prizes to the winners of the tournament.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 11, 2022, of The Himalayan Times
