Kathmandu, March 28:

Suleiman Ali had a round of four-under 68 to assume the first-day lead at the Surya Nepal Masters 2007 here today.

Five Nepali golfers were placed in the top-eight after the opening round at the Le Meridien Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and Spa. Deepak Thapa Magar led the Nepali challenge with two-under 70. Sabin Sapkota occupied the third spot at one-under 71 while the duo of Nepal’s Deepak Acharya and India’s Ramesh Kumar were tied for fourth at even-par 72.

Former Indian Open winner and an Asian Tour regular, Feroz Ali tied for sixth with Deepak Neupane at one-over 73 while Parnita Garewal, the first ever lady golfer to compete in a men’s professional golf tournament here, finished with nine-over 81 to tie for the 39th position.

The Delhi Golf Club pro, Suleiman Ali got off the mark with a birdie on the 11th sinking an uphill 15 feet putt. Suleiman had a birdie on the 17th but dropped his only shot on the 18th. On his back nine, the 25-year-old finished with three more birdies on the first, fourth and seventh.

Deepak Thapa Magar began with a birdie but had a double-bogey on the very next hole. He made up with birdies on the fifth, sixth and seventh but a bogey on the eight. On his back nine, Thapa Magar dropped shots on the 10th and 14th, but birdied the 12th, 15th and 18th for an impressive card of 70.

Sapkota’s round featured early set-backs in the form of a bogey on the 13th and a double bogey on the 14th. He, however, made up with birdies on the first, third, seventh and ninth in the back nine.

Deepak Acharya managed to finish with a round of even-par 72. A first tee starter, Acharya’s round saw him drop shots on the third and fourth. A birdie on the eighth saw him make the turn at one-over. On his back-nine, the 30 year old Gokarna Forest Golf Resort pro, birdied the eighth, 10th, 12th and 18th but dropped shots on the 13th, 14th and 15th. Tashi Ghale fired a one-over 73 to take the lead among the amateurs. One stroke behind, at second position was the duo of Rupak Acharya and Ravi Khadka.

Meanwhile, Rajendra Gyawali and Sanjay Subedi finished first and second respectively in the media putting competition, an annual event held for the local journalists after the Media Clinic, which was conducted by Branden de Souza of Tiger Sports Marketing. In the competition for the new scribes, Narayan Bhandari and Pratima Baskota earned top two spots respectively. Samindra Roy, marketing vice-president of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd, gave away gift hampers to the winners.