Kathmandu, August 21:

Nepal Samacharpatra took the first-day lead at the second Media Cup Bowling Tournament, which has been jointly organised by Nepal Bowling Association and Nepal Sports Journalists Forum, here today. At Fun World, the team led by NSJF president Niranjan Rajbanshi, who rolled down the highest individual of 174 pinfalls, accumulated 945 points and enjoyed a 74-pin lead over the second-placed team The Himalayan Times. The Himalayan Times had a bad start, and the bowlers were forced to change the lane thrice due to technical errors. THT skipper Mahesh Acharya failed to catch his rhythm and ended up with just 108 pinfalls in the first game. Prakash Timalsina had 132, Udipt Singh Chhetry rolled down just 99 pins and Shristi Madan had 67 pinfalls for a total of 406 pinfalls in the first game.

The THT bowlers improved to some extent in the second game and accumulated 465 pinfalls for a total of 871. Acharya bettered his first-game score by 11 pins, while Timalsina proved his supremacy in the team with 138 pins. Chhetry made a remarkable improve with 137 pins, and Shristi ended up with 71 pinfalls. With two round still to play, Metro FM are at third place with a total of 819 pinfalls, while The Kathmandu Post accumulated 809 pinfalls for the fourth spot. At the end of the day, Pallavi Dhakal of Image TV emerged the best female bowler with 96 pinfalls.

Others in the pack were: Image Channel (764), The Rising Nepal (734), Nepal 1 Television (722), Graphic Vision Media (709), Himalaya Times (676), Gorkhapatra (609), City Post (592), Samaya (574), National Forum of Photo Journalists (513), and Kantipur (506). In all, 14 media houses are taking part in the three-day event. The second-day games will be played at Bowling Boulevard at Kantipath, while Hotel Shahanshah International will host the final-day games. Kishor Bahadur Singh, member secretary of National Sports Council; Senon Dorje Lama, president of Nepal Bowling Association; and Bharat Shakya, general manager of Fun World Nepal Recreation Centre inaugurated the event.