Kathmandu, October 29:

Shastika Shrestha is one of the very few golfers who has established herself as a strong force in the women’s field. She will team up with Kesang Lama in the ladies section when the Surya Nepal Ninth SAARC Golf Championship tees off here at the Le Meridien Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and Spa from Thursday.

Despite starting playing golf only from 2001, Shrestha have so far won more than 25 championships. “I have won almost all the event held at the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC),” says the RNGC golfer Shrestha.

She was introduced to golf while accompanying her husband, Hari, at the RNGC. “While I was playing on one of those occasions, Dipak Acharya (one of the top Nepali pro) saw my game and encouraged to take the game seriously,” recollects Shrestha.

When Shrestha takes to the greens at the SAARC Golf on Thursday, it would be her fourth consecutive year at the tournament with her best result coming last year in Pakistan. Shrestha and Kesang Lama finished runners up.

“My partner (Lama) has been working really hard and I am hoping to deliver the best myself,” said Shrestha of the upcoming event. Despite knowing that they would be rubbing their shoulders against the top lady golfers of the South Asian region, Shrestha believes they could still win the title.

“We used to get short notice in the previous editions but that isn’t the case this time,” says Shrestha, adding they had enough time to prepare themselves this time around.