Kathmandu, March 15

Nepal No 1 pro Shivaram Shrestha and defending champion Rabi Khadka advanced to the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play quarter-finals here at the Royal Nepal Golf Club today.

Shrestha registered a comfortable 7&5 victory over 16th-ranked Sanjeev Nepali Himalayan Golf Club, while Khadka defeated Gokarna Golf Club’s Pashupati Sharma 6&5. Shrestha will face Rame Magar in the quarter-finals, while Khadka will take on Surya Sharma. Second-ranked Sanjay Lama of Army Club entered to the last eight with a 3&2 win over Yelamber Singh Adhikari.

Surya Sharma, Bhuwan Nagarkoti, Rame Magar, Deepak Thapa Magar and Dhana Thapa also won their first-round matches to advance to the quarter-finals. Rame Magar defeated Ramesh Adhikari 3&2 in the all-RNGC contest, while Army Club pro Dhana Thapa beat Bal Bhadra Rai of Dharan by the same score to set date with his clubmate Lama. Surya Sharma of RNGC was the biggest winner of the day as he completed the victory with six holes remaining against his clubmate Dinesh Prajapati.

In the most thrilling match of the day, veteran pro Deepak Thapa Magar was stretched to 25th hole by Jayaram Shrestha. Both the players were tied after regulation 18 holes the contest went up to 25th hole before Thapa Magar completed the victory on the seventh extra hole. Likewise, the match between Nagarkoti brothers was decided on the second extra hole with Bhuwan beating Ramesh on the 20th hole. Nagarkoti will face Thapa Magar in quarter-finals.

The quarter-final and semi-final matches are scheduled for Wednesday, while the third-place match and final are slated for Thursday. The championship match will be played over 36 holes. Top 16 players in the Order of Merit 2014-15 are contesting in the sixth event under the current season of Surya Nepal Golf Tour.