Former champion Shamim Khan carded five-under 67 to his overnight 66 to climb atop the Surya Nepal Masters leaderboard halfway into the tournament at the Gokarna Golf Course on Thursday.
Former champion Shamim Khan carded five-under 67 to his overnight 66 to climb atop the Surya Nepal Masters leaderboard halfway into the tournament at the Gokarna Golf Course on Thursday.
The first round leader Angad Cheema settled for a share of the second place after two-under 70 along with Chikkarangappa S, who carded seven-under 65 for a total of 10-under 134. R Murthy was fourth at eight-under while Shankar Das and Mohamad Sanju shared the fifth position at 137.
Sanjay Lama was among the best Nepali pro after shooting a two-under 70, occupying the tied-seventh position along with Abhinav Lohan, Gaurav Ghei and Abhijit Singh Chadha.
In all, 50 pros and two amateurs made the cut which went at two-over 146. Amongst the other Nepali pros Shiva ram Shrestha shared the 11th position with a total of five-under 139 while Surya Prasad Sharma was tied for 16th at four-under 140.
Bikash Bogati, a product of the Surya Nepal NGA Youth Development Programme, was top of the amateur category with a total score of even-par 144 and tied for the 30th position overall.
Opening the day from the 10th tee, Khan made a steady start making two birdies on the par-5 15th and par-4 17th to take the turn at two-under 34. The Indian pro then caught fire on the back nine where he made a three birdies on the first three holes. He dropped a shot on the sixth but immediately sank a birdie in the very next hole to finished the second round at 5-under 67.
Lama sank six birdies on the first, third, seventh, 12th, 13th and 16th but unfortunately had to settle for a two-under score after making four bogeys including two in a row on the final holes. Nepal No 1 Shiva Ram, who was tied for fourth overnight, faltered after shooting even-par 72. Shiva Ram had two birdies and an eagle on par-5 3rd but was upset by two bogeys and a double bogey on the par-5 11th. Among the other Nepali pros Surya Prasad Sharma (71, 69) was tied for 16th at 140, Suman Rai (73, 70) tied for 26th at 143 and Umesh Nagarkoti (70, 74) sharing the 30th position at 144.
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