By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Sukra Bahadur Rai, Bhuvan Nagarkoti, Jayaram Shrestha, Rabi Khadka, Dinesh Prajapati, Dhana Bahadur Thapa, Bhuvan Kumar Rokka and Ramesh Adhikari marched to the quarter-finals of the Surya Nepal NPGA Match Play at the Royal Nepal Golf Club on Tuesday.
Nepal No 1 pro-Sukra registered a comfortable 5&4 victory over 20th-ranked Tanka Bahadur Karki in the first-round match of the third event under the Surya Nepal Golf Tour 2022-23. In the quarter-final match, Sukra will face No 10 Bhuvan Kumar Rokka, who beat ninth-ranked Rame Magar 2&1.
Second-seeded Bhuvan Nagarkoti also beat 19th-ranked Sanjok Moktan 2&1. Defending champion Bhuvan will play against No 8 Dhana Thapa in the quarter-final match. Dhana recorded a 3&2 victory over No 11 Bal Bhadra Rai. Likewise, third-ranked Jayaram defeated No 17 Krishna Man Rajbahak on the final hole (1-up) to set up the quarter-final match with No 7 Dinesh Prajapati. Dinesh recorded a 1-up win against No 12 Surya Prasad Sharma.
No 5 Rabi edged past No 15 Pradip Kumar Lama 2&1 in the first round and he will play against Ramesh Adhikari for a place in the semi-finals. No 13 Ramesh upset fifth-ranked Sanjay Lama 3&1.
The quarter-final and semi-final matches are slated for Thursday, while the third-place and final matches will be played on Thursday. Expect for the final, all other matches will be played over 18 holes. The finalists will fight for the title in a 36-hole contest.
The tournament, organized by PGA Nepal under the sponsorship of Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd, carries a total purse of Rs 250,000. The top four pros will receive Rs 60,000, Rs 42,000, Rs 32000, and Rs 24,000 respectively. Four losing quarter-finalists will earn Rs 11,000 each, while the eight pros facing defeats in the first round will get Rs 6,000 apiece.
