KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Bhupendra Niraula shared the lead after the seventh round of the sixth Asian Amateur Chess Tournament in Brunei on Thursday.

The 2056-rated Candidate Master Niraula defeated 1888-rated Malaysia’s Muhd Aziz Farhan Noor Akbar in the seventh round to accumulate 5.5 points.

With two rounds remaining, Niraula is at the top of the table along with Daler Vakhidov of Uzbekistan and Mohd Saprin Sabri of Malaysia.

Niraula will play against 2087-rated Stewart Manaog of the Philippines in the next round. Another Nepali player, Dharam Bahadur Lama defeated Brunei’s 1966-rated Kamarunsalehin Kamis to accumulate 4.5 points. The 1927-rated Lama will face unrated Eko Handoko of Indonesia in the next round.