Kathmandu, March 31

Mohammad Ripon of Bangladesh won the title of the sixth Nepal Open Amateur Golf Championship here at the Gokarna Golf Club today.

Ripon, who shared the lead with Nepal’s Tenzing Tshiring after the second round, shot three-over 75 54-hole total of four-over 220, which was enough for him to register a six-shot victory over Nepal’s Tanka Bahadur Karki, Sukra Bahadur Rai and Tshiring.

Like in the first round, the players failed to break par on the third and final day with Karki’s one-over 73 being the best card of the day. Karki finished second, while Rai (79) came third — both on count back after they were tied on 10-over 226 with 15-year-old Tenzing Tshiring. Karki played one-over 37 on the back nine, while Rai and Tshiring had 39 and 42 respectively.

Overnight joint leader Tshiring faltered to nine-over 81 to finish fourth, while Tshendra Dorji (75) and Capt Norbu Sherpa, who shot second straight two-over 74, shared the fifth position at 228. Bhutan’s Dechen Ugyan shared the seventh position with Nepal’s Tashi Dong and Arun Tamang at 14-over 230.

Ripon, who was runner-up in the Bangladesh Amateur Golf Championship in Dhaka earlier this month, got off to a flying start with a birdie but he dropped three shots on two holes, a double bogey on the fifth and a bogey on the sixth. He came back strongly with birdies on the seventh and ninth to take the turn at even-par 36. Ripon then faced bogeys on the 10th, 14th and 15th holes to finish the latter half at three-over 39.

Tshiring was going neck-to-neck with Ripon and was one stroke ahead after seven holes. But the 15-year-old son of former Nepal No 1 amateur golfer Tashi Tshiring dropped four shots on the par-3 eighth and suffered a double bogey on the 11th hole which virtually ended his title challenge. He played three-over 39 on the front nine before adding six-over 42 on the latter half.

Karki made a brilliant start carding three straight birdies but he went on to drop shots on the fifth, sixth and eighth holes to take the turn at even-par 36. On the back nine, he faced a bogey on the 17th hole and saved pars on eight others. Dharan golfer Rai faltered to four-over 40 on the front nine and added three-over 39 on the latter half.

On Wednesday, Bhutan’s Ugyan and Dorji won the team event trophy with the total score of 14-over 302, while Ripon and Akbar Hossain of Bangladesh came second on 304. Nepal ‘A’ of Karki and Tashi Tshiring were third, while Shiva Kumar Majhi and Prithivi Malla of Nepal ‘B’ finished at the bottom in the four-team competition. In all, 62 players from Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan took part in the tournament organised by NGA under the auspices of Mountain Sports Federation Nepal.

Vice-president of National Sports Council Lama Tendi Sherpa, president of Nepal Golf Association Madhukar Yakthumba, general secretary of Mountain Sports Federation Govinda Bhattarai, NGA Advisor Pyar Jung Thapa, general secretary Tashi Ghale and former member Maj NK Rai gave away prizes to the winners. Meanwhile, Nepal Golf Association handed over a token of appreciation to Royal Thimpu Golf Club for providing with Rs 736,000 for retrofitting of the houses of caddies affected by the April 25 earthquake.