DHARAN: Local pro Sabin Sapkota carded three-under 67 to equal the course record and take two-stroke lead after the second round of the Surya Nepal Eastern Open here at the par-70 Nirvana Country Club today.

Sapkota, who carded five-over 75 in the first round, took a two-stroke lead over overnight leader Rabi Khadka, who shot two-over 72 for a total of four-over 144. No 1 pro Shiva Ram Shrestha and Sanjay Lama were tied for the third at 146, while Deo Raj Pakhrin — who was joint second after the first round — carded five-over 75 was fifth.

Defending champion Deepak Thapa Magar, who carded five-over 75, was sixth at nine-over 149. Mani Rai, Ramesh Nagarkoti, Tham Bahadur Rai and Pashupati Sharma were tied for seventh at 152, while Ram Thapa was 11th at 153.

Local pro Sabin Sapkota carded six birdies on the front nine. He carded the first birdie on the second hole and had five consecutive birdies from fifth to ninth. He started the back nine with a par putt but the Dharan pro lost momentum from then on and went on to hit five bogeys against a lone birdie. He had bogeys on the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th holes before saving a stroke on the last hole.

“I am quite happy with the day’s performance given the pin positions and the greens of the course,” said Sabin, who equalled the course record set by Ramesh Nagarkoti in the 2000. Sabin hit eight green regulations on the front nine and had a total of 13 putts resulting the six birdies and three par putts. “The performance in such conditions is quite

good. The pins were positioned in such a tough positions

that there was no room for

error,” he added. “I am looking forward to keep up the tempo for the final round and win the tournament.”

On the back nine, Sabin had a total of 18 putts that included two three-putts. He also missed green regulations twice. “It is the greens that let me down on the back nine. The ball does not roll properly on the greens,” Sabin added.

Surya Prasad Sharma and Deepak Neupane are tied for 12th position with the score of 155, while Rajan Thapa is 14th at 156. Other pros who made the cut, applied for the top 20 pros at 19-over, were Deepak Acharya (157), Dhana Thapa(157), Ram Krishna Shrestha (158), Krishna Hari Mizar (158), CB Bhandari (159) and Jaya Ram Shrestha (159). Sachin Bhattarai, Suman Sapkota, Gopal Nagarkoti and Krishna Man Rajbahak missed the cut.

Among amateurs, Ramesh Adhikari of RNGC finished the day at 155 to take an eight-stroke lead over Suman Rai of Dharan. Bhuwan Pudasaini (165) and Rajesh Rai (167) are the other amateurs who made the cut for the final round.

Overnight leader Rabi shot two-over 72 for the second straight round. He dropped three shots on the par-5 third and still took the turn at one-under 34 after carding birdies on the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth holes. He had two bogeys and a double bogey against a lone birdie on the back nine.

Defending champion Deepak Thapa Magar, who is seven strokes behind the leader, shot one-over 36 on the front nine and shot four-over 39 on the back nine. “I will try my best till the last hole. But nothing can be said given the course condition,” said Thapa Magar, who won the back-to-back Dharan Open title in 2000 and 2008.