Bhuwan Nagarkoti maintained his five-stroke lead after the second round of the Surya Nepal Central Open at the par-72 Gokarna Golf Club on Tuesday.

Nagarkoti played a card of three-under 69 in the second round for a 36-hole total of 11-under 133. On the opening day, he had carded eight-under 64. Sukra Bahadur Rai, who played three-under 69, is behind leader Nagarkoti, with a second day total of six-under 138.

The 13th South Asian Games (SAG) double gold medalist Subash Tamang is overall third and leads the amateur category with a total of five-under 139. He played a card of two-under 70. Sanjay Lama shot four-under 68 to climb to fourth at three-under 141. Rame Magar dropped to fifth at two-under 142 after two-over 74.

Amateur Vijay Shrestha Einhaus and pro Rajendra Shrestha Pradhan are jointly in sixth position at even-par 144. While Shrestha Einhaus carded four-over 76, Shrestha Pradhan shot three-over 75. Bal Bhadra Rai climbed to eighth with the score of one-over 145 after playing one-under 71. Former top pro, Rabi Khadka (68) shared the ninth position at two-over 146 with amateurs Tashi Tsering (75) and Ajit BK (71).

Leader Nagarkoti played even-par 36 on the front nine with birdies on the third and sixth holes against bogeys on the second and seventh holes. On the back nine, he carded three-under 33 with birdie on the 10th but bogey on the following hole. He also birdied on the 12th, 14th and 17th holes.

Second-placed Rai carded two-under 34 on the front nine and one-under 35 on the back nine. He carded birdies on the third and seventh holes but after taking the turn he bogeyed on the 15th hole against birdies on the 12th and 17th holes.

Amateur Tamang carded one-under 35 on either half. He carded a lone birdie on the fourth hole in the front nine before birdies on the 12th, 13th and 17th holes. But he faced bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes.

Altogether 29 golfers including 22 pros and seven amateurs made the cut after the second round. Pradip Kumar Lama, Bhu Bahadur Gurung, Bhuwan Kumar Rokka, Jayaram Shrestha, Surya Prasad Sharma, Niraj Tamang, Dinesh Prajapati, Ramesh Adhikari, Deepak Magar, Sunil KC, Sanjok Moktan, Pashupati Sharma, Ram Krishna Shrestha and Basanta Raj Gurung survived the cut applied at 10-over 154.

Amateurs Ritesh Tamang, Yubraj Bhujel, Hridesh Kumar Singh and Sadbhav Acharya also secured berths for the final two rounds.