Kathmandu, April 25

Rabi Khadka and Sanjay Lama produced upset victories to enter the final of the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club today.

Fifth-ranked Khadka defeated No 1 pro Shivaram Shrestha 3&2 in the match between the RNGC golfers, while Army Club pro Lama had to struggle hard to beat second-ranked Bhuwan Nagarkoti of Gokarna Golf Club. The third ranked pro emerged victorious on the first extra hole after both the golfers finished at even on the regulation 18 holes.

Earlier, Khadka was pushed to the first extra hole by fourth-ranked Dhana Bahadur Thapa of Army Club in the quarter-final match, while Lama outplayed Gokarna Golf Club’s Pashupati Sharma 4&3, the best winning score of the day. Similarly, top pro Shrestha — who won the first four tournaments of the season — had defeated his elder brother Jayaram Shrestha 2-up, while Nagarkoti registered a 2&1 victory over Bal Bhadra Rai of Dharan to make it to the last four.

The third-place and final matches will be played over 18 and 36 holes respectively on Wednesday. The top 16 ranked golfers, based on last year’s Order of Merit, took part in the sixth event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2016-17.

The tournament carries a total purse of Rs 250,000. The winner will receive Rs 70,000, while the runners-up will earn Rs 40,000. Likewise, the third and fourth placed pros will get Rs 28,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. The losing quarter-finalists will earn Rs 11,000 apiece, while the eight players who were eliminated in the first round will get Rs 6,000 each.