KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Bhupendra Niraula continued his impressive run in the sixth Asian Amateur Chess Championship in Brunei on Friday. The 2056-rated Candidate Master Niraula defeated 2087-rated Stewart Manaog of the Philippines in the eighth round to accumulate six points.

He is at the second position along with three other players — Manaog, Mohd Saprin Sabri of Malaysia, India’s T Shyam Sundar. Uzbekistan’s Daler Vakhidov leads the table with 6.5 points.

Niraula will play against 1762-rated Sundar in the final round on Saturday. Another Nepali player, Dharma Bahadur Lama beat Eko Handoko of Indonesia in the eighth round to accumulate 5.5 points. He is 12th in the standing and will play against Uzbekistan’s Shahzod Vakhidov.