By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Dinesh Prajapati clinched his maiden major title defeating Ramesh Adhikari in the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play at the Royal Nepal Golf Club on Thursday.
Seventh-ranked Dinesh outplayed 13th-ranked Ramesh Adhikari 7&6 in the 36-hole final match to win the third event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022-23. The victory means, Dinesh claimed his maiden major title in the Tour and received a winner’s cheque of Rs 60,000. Likewise, runner-up, Ramesh was rewarded with Rs 42,000.
Dinesh lost the first hole but he bounced back to take the 4-hole lead in the first nine holes, while he doubled the lead after the completion of 18 holes. After the lunch break, Ramesh reduced the deficit to four holes by winning the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd holes. Dinesh won the 23rd but Ramesh again took the 24th and 25th holes to cut the deficit to three holes.
But Dinesh won the next two holes to restore a five-hole lead after the completion of 27 holes. After sharing the 28th hole, Dinesh won the next two holes to complete the victory.
Earlier, eighth-ranked Dhana Bahadur Thapa beat No 10 Bhuwan Kumar Rokka in the first extra hole to finish third. The match went to a playoff after both pros were tied on regulation 18 holes. Dhana earned Rs 32,000 and Bhuwan got Rs 24,000.
The top 16 pros in Order of Merit of Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2021-22 qualified to participate in the Match Play but the PGA Nepal allowed players up to the top 20 as four pros are out of the country.
The tournament, organized by PGA Nepal under the sponsorship of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd, carried a cash purse of Rs 250,000. Four losing quarter-finalists Sukra Bahadur Ra, Bhuvan Nagarkoti, Jayaram Shrestha, and Rabi Khadka got Rs 11,000 each, while the eight pros who were eliminated from first-round Tanka Bahadur Karki, Sanjok Moktan, Krishna Man Rajbahak, Pradeep Kumar Lama, Sanjay Lama, Surya Prasad Sharma, Bal Bhadra Rai, and Rame Magar received Rs 6,000 each.
Marketing Manager of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd Keshav Pradhan and Brand Manager Bidur Raj Adhikari handed over the prizes to the winners. The fourth event of the Tour, the Surya Nepal Western Open will be held at the Himalayan Golf Course in Pokhara from January 22-25.
